Free Web NovelStill holding hands, I looked over Michael Wiss.
The confident posture, blond hair, blue eyes. Seeing him in person for the first time, he looked like the textbook American.
“Charlie? Is there something on my face?”
Maybe because I was staring so intently, he asked with a smile.
Even the way he smiles—he really looks like one of those successful white businessmen you only see in the media.
“No. It’s just fascinating that the day finally came when I’d see with my own eyes what kind of person the real power at Chevron is.”
“I’ll gladly take that as a compliment. I find it fascinating too—that the owner of Dreamhigh is this young.”
After exchanging the usual pleasantries, we sat down together.
“Coffee is fine, right?”
“Of course.”
Manager Ma left the study to prepare the coffee, and I turned my focus back to Michael.
“I understand you haven’t even been in Korea for a full day yet.”
“How did you know? Even the Korean government only realized we were entering the country after we boarded the plane.”
The words came back as if he were probing me.
Why would the Korean government bother tracking the movements of a Chevron executive in the first place?
“The Korean government isn’t particularly interested in whether a Chevron executive enters the country. But I am.”
“So you were keeping an eye on our movements.”
“Even without watching closely, if I decide I want to know something, I can find out easily enough.”
“I hear you’re very confident.”
Michael never wiped the smile off his face. I spoke to him with a smile as well.
But inside the study, the tension was sharper than ever.
At that moment, Manager Ma came in with the coffee. The strained atmosphere loosened in an instant.
“This is Korean-style instant mix coffee. It actually tastes quite good. Please try it.”
Instead of expensive beans or premium coffee, I had deliberately served mix coffee.
Without much reaction, Michael picked up the cup that had been set down.
“Oh, you’re right. It’s quite good. Sweet, but with a bitter edge. Is this expensive?”
“Not at all. One cup is about 100 won... so around twelve cents.”
“This delicious coffee is only twelve cents?”
“I hear it’s sold quite a lot at Korean markets in the U.S. these days. You don’t seem to drink coffee much. It’s cheap and easy to make, so if it suits your taste, you’ll find yourself making it often. Just tear open the packet, pour in hot water, and stir. That’s it.”
Even while I was explaining, he kept sipping and finished the cup.
I had intentionally served cheap coffee to get a sense of what kind of person he was, and his reaction wasn’t bad.
“It’s really good. I should buy some to take home.”
I couldn’t tell whether he was hiding his thoughts, being naturally smooth, or genuinely liking it.
Judging by the look of satisfaction on his face, it seemed he truly liked it.
Now that I had a rough sense of what kind of man he was, I stopped testing him and got to the point.
“Director Michael. Why did you want to meet me? You must have had a reason to come looking for me so urgently.”
Michael set down the empty coffee cup and replied.
“I simply wanted to meet the person commanding this project from the front. But it turns out that person is the owner of Dreamhigh.”
“You seem to know quite a bit about me.”
“To an extent. But can anyone really know all of you?”
“Did you hear it from Security Advisor Rice?”
Michael didn’t deny it. He nodded slightly and continued.
“Yes. I asked her. For information about you. And the more I heard, the more surprised I was. I’d always wondered who managed to swallow Yugansk whole in Russia. Yugansk was an asset Royal Dutch Shell had been eyeing.”
Yugansk—more precisely, during the Yukos liquidation process, Royal Dutch Shell had shown the greatest interest.
Royal Dutch Shell was one of the major oil companies born from the merger of the Dutch Royal Petroleum Company and a British oil company.
They tried every method available to probe the acquisition of Yukos.
But in the end, Yugansk, the core subsidiary of Yukos, fell into my hands, while the other subsidiaries were divided among Russian oil companies.
For the major oil companies, it was bound to be a bitter outcome.
“Despite all of Royal Dutch Shell’s efforts, they couldn’t acquire it. And in the end, some unheard-of company became the owner of Yugansk. So everyone suspected that the owner of the Kremlin had used a shell company to buy it.”
Dreamhigh’s money had gone in, but the company that acquired Yugansk was Yugansk Oil Company, newly established in Russia.
The ownership structure of that company was kept strictly confidential.
My stake was 51%, enough to call me the owner, while the rest belonged to the Russian government.
“But to think the owner was you. That really surprised me. Acquiring a giant oil company like Yukos—no matter how strong Dreamhigh’s capital is, that’s not something just anyone can do.”
Michael lavishly praised me for quite some time. The # Nоvеlight # longer the tongue, the deeper the ulterior motive.
“You’re also involved in many other businesses. And you’re the one who brought about change in North Korea.”
“I think that’s enough praise. Now it’s your turn to explain the reason.”
What would come after all that praise? Even I was curious now.
At my words, Michael’s smile deepened.
“Haha. You noticed? The construction of this pipeline and gas pipeline is being pushed forward far faster than we anticipated. At Chevron, we analyzed that even in the best case, it would take at least ten years before it could begin.”
Only ten years. It was a project that, even after decades, might not see a single signature on a contract.
The plan itself had been laid out back when the Soviet Union collapsed and diplomatic ties were established with Korea.
But North Korea was an enormous variable, and there were countless obstacles to overcome, including Russia–U.S. relations.
“Perhaps. But once a project like this catches fire, doesn’t it usually proceed at breakneck speed? It’s a contract between states, but also a business between private companies.”
But in this life, things were different.
I changed North Korea, leveraged my relationship with the Russian president, and pushed the project forward. All changes I myself had caused.
No matter how mighty the oil cartel was, they couldn’t have predicted this.
“That’s true. Getting started is the hard part. After that, time takes care of the rest—assuming there’s no interference.”
“Hm.... Should I take what you just said as meaning you intend to interfere with this project?”
When I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, Michael smiled and raised both hands. frёewebnoѵēl.com
“Of course not. This is a project for which the Russian and Korean governments have already issued a joint statement. To interfere with that, we’d have to push ourselves quite hard. Well... it could be done if we really wanted to, but the return wouldn’t be worth the effort. Even if Geumseong Refining collapsed, it wouldn’t be a major blow to us.”
Treating Geumseong Refining—one of Korea’s four major refiners—as if it were nothing.
But coming from Chevron, it was understandable.
If Geumseong Refining collapsed, there would be losses, but compared to Chevron’s scale, it couldn’t be called a serious blow.
“Aramco probably won’t move either.”
If the effort outweighs the gain, there’s no reason to force it.
Whether between states or not, a profit-seeking private company has no reason to accept losses.
Aramco, well, that’s for a different reason.
“So? What is it you want to say?”
“Include Chevron in the Block 7 project.”
“The Block 7 project?”
The unexpected words made me tilt my head without realizing it.
“I heard that Japan and Korea are resuming exploration of Block 7.”
“And where did you hear that?”
Although the Korean and Japanese governments had already reached an agreement, only a very small number of people knew about it.
“I happened to find out.”
Happened to, my ass. I frowned as I looked at Michael.
If Chevron knew, that meant the other major oil companies probably knew as well.
Seeing the change in my expression, Michael hurriedly added,
“Even within Chevron, only three people—including me—know this. Other major oil companies don’t, of course.”
“The fact that three people know is what matters.”
“It’s true. We found out while investigating Yugansk Oil.”
That explanation made sense. After hearing about me from Condoleezza Rice, they must have investigated Yugansk and uncovered this as well.
I rubbed my chin, lost in thought.
Once information leaks, it spreads quickly.
There was now one more reason to push this matter forward as fast as possible.
“Yes. That’s correct. That’s the plan.”
“I knew it. And Yugansk will conduct the exploration on your behalf.”
“That’s correct as well.”
Michael’s face bloomed with a smile, clearly pleased with my answers.
“Please allow Chevron to participate in this exploration.”
“It’s just exploration. Is there really a reason for Chevron to participate?”
“We’re confident that the continental shelf including Block 7 contains enormous reserves of natural gas. We’ve made repeated efforts, through Japan, to obtain development rights for Block 7.”
Well, look at that. Block 7 is an oil and gas field designated in the waters around the Jeju Basin.
“Block 7 is clearly within the territorial waters of the Republic of Korea. You tried to obtain development rights through Japan?”
“You know this already. In the past, it may have been recognized as Korean territorial waters, but since the UN introduced the concept of exclusive economic zones, judgments have prioritized Japan’s waters more. If no meaningful exploration had taken place by 2028, Chevron’s assessment was that Japan, China, and Korea would have divided Block 7 among themselves.”
Michael had hit the nail squarely on the head.
That was precisely why I was trying to push the Block 7 project as quickly as possible.
“Among those areas, the region most likely to fall under Japan’s exclusive economic zone is also the one with the highest estimated reserves.”
Come to think of it, the entity that drafted the UN report was the oil cartel itself.
It was only natural that Chevron was confident about Block 7.
While I was organizing my thoughts, Michael continued speaking.
“And then we suddenly heard that the Korean and Japanese governments had agreed to resume exploration. We even learned the plan—that the Korea National Oil Corporation and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation would be the project owners, with Yugansk Oil conducting the actual exploration. That’s why we had to change our plans in a hurry.”
After coveting it for so long, it was only natural they’d feel pressed.
“Yugansk Oil taking it all alone would make this an excessively large project. The U.S. government won’t just sit back and watch.”
“And if they don’t?”
“They’ll move the Japanese government to delay the project. They won’t like the profits flowing to Russia.”
I hadn’t failed to consider this point either.
The United States is a country willing to go to war for oil.
But the owner of Yugansk Oil is Dreamhigh.
And Dreamhigh is a U.S.-based investment firm.
Michael was forgetting that the profits wouldn’t go only to Russia, but to the U.S. as well.
“Dreamhigh controls Yugansk Oil. Dreamhigh is a U.S. corporation. In the end, the profits Yugansk Oil earns benefit the United States too. Are you forgetting that?”
“Of course not. But the owner of Dreamhigh isn’t American.”
Nationality again. I pressed my forehead, having heard this tiresome argument too many times.
“In American politics, there’s a long history of Republicans and Democrats joining forces when it comes to American interests. But Chevron is different. It’s an American major oil company founded by Americans. There’s absolutely no reason for American politics to pick a fight over it.”
“And what if I say I don’t want that?”
“Then we’ll have to consider other methods. I can’t predict what might happen. Control over information eventually reaches its limits.”
So he dares to threaten me.
If I didn’t include Chevron, he was saying he’d spread the information.
But this man didn’t really know me.
“Director Michael.”
“Yes. Go on.”
“You don’t know anything about me. Do you think a threat like that would work on me?”
“A threat? I’m merely voicing my concerns.”
“You really don’t know me. I don’t like wordplay.”
At the chill in my voice, Michael shut his mouth.
I could see his eyes darting around at the sudden shift in atmosphere.
“This is how you threaten someone, Director Michael. Should I decide, right now, to start buying up Chevron stock?”
“.......”
“Chevron is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, isn’t it? What’s the current market cap—one hundred billion dollars? Two hundred billion? Shall we try it? With Dreamhigh’s capital, I’m confident I could surpass Vanguard and become the largest shareholder. Do you really think you’re ready to fight me?”
Chevron wasn’t a private company. If you set out to shake a listed company, the consequences were obvious—something Michael had completely overlooked.
