Chapter 129 – Gulf Oil Fields (2)

“Ugh, it’s so hot. If it weren’t for this roof and canopy, I’d be dried out by now. And this burka—not only does it protect me from sunburn, it’s unexpectedly cool.”

“Indeed. You can really feel it’s wisdom for daily life.”

Shizu and I chat idly in the car, but right now we are traveling south through the Kingdom of Najd. Along the way, we sensed that nearly the whole island of Bahrain is an oilfield, and stayed there for a night.
Though in fact that overnight stay was on a ship, from there we went straight on to the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd, which a few years later would be renamed Saudi Arabia.

But the place I pointed to was just an empty spot. Unlike Kuwait or Bahrain, which feels like an entire island is one nation, here when we switched to a small boat and landed at a little pier, there was no local welcome.
The only ones to greet us were members of the joint Japanese-American-British survey team who had arrived earlier while we were in Bahrain. No one from the House of Saud was present. And all of them carried this subdued air of “why come to such a place with nothing here?”

However, the place I am aiming for this time is inland. That is why I had them prepare for about three days of camping.

And so, about 100 kilometers from the coast, we drive for two hours through wastelands and desert, heading deeper into the barren sands. Truly nothing but desert, desert as one imagines it.

Even though it was a specially made vehicle I had prepared, the speed was still slow.
But after about two hours, I was struck by that sensation I’ve been feeling a lot on this journey.

And this too was as much of a “jackpot” as Kuwait.

“Here it comes! This is it! The direction is… almost due south, just keep going like this. Keep moving forward. I think the final stop is still 100, maybe 200 kilometers ahead.”

“Princess, is there really such a large oilfield? I’m not very knowledgeable about oilfields, but I’ve never heard of anything on such a massive scale.”

Mr. Smith still didn’t seem convinced.
Since yesterday, with me acting like this, his usual mask of composure seemed close to slipping.

“I think that’s a natural doubt, Mr. Smith. But right now, we’re standing directly above the world’s largest oilfield—and not just the largest, it’s by far number one in the world.”

“The world’s number one? Even greater than the Kuwaiti oilfield we saw the other day?”

“It’s its equal. Both of them, as individual oil reservoirs, are on a completely different scale from the rest. That’s why, once they do some test drilling and surveys here, this place will probably be sealed up for the time being. Like Alibaba’s treasure.”

“In that case, Princess, you yourself are the very ‘Open Sesame’.”

It seemed that after the string of shocks, Mr. Smith had somewhat recovered his composure; he shrugged his shoulders, raised both hands lightly, and joked around.
Since I had read the story of Alibaba when I was little after being reborn, I still remembered the gist of it, so I decided to answer him with that.

You never know when exchanges like this will come up, so I can’t neglect reading and absorbing knowledge. At times like this, I really end up wishing I could connect to the internet of the 21st century.

“Well, since the treasure’s already been found, doesn’t that make me the clever slave girl Morgiana from that story?”

“That’s terrifying. We must be sure not to be discovered by you, Princess.”

“Oh my? Mr. Smith, were you one of the forty thieves then? In that case, I’ll just have to strike you down.”

“Oh, how frightening, how frightening. Because of that, as much as I’d like to move on to a formal contract, we must of course conduct a proper survey and verify everything.”

“Of course. As for concessions and such matters, it’s fine if we only receive a token share. Please confirm each location to your satisfaction.”

Since the conversation had turned serious, I adjusted my tone as well.

Even so, I spoke in as casual a tone as I could manage, but it seemed Mr. Smith was not pleased. I had made the greatest possible concession and tried to appear completely harmless, yet Sebastian’s gaze suggested I was being far too free of desire.

“Am I lacking in greed too much?”

“If you’re aware of it yourself, then we wouldn’t mind at all—or so I would like to say. But it makes us wonder if there is still more ahead, or perhaps something better than this. This is my own personal, utmost advice as someone who believes he knows the Princess fairly well.”

“Thank you. However, there is no oilfield in the world larger as a single deposit than Kuwait and this place.”

“Not even in the future?”

“At the very least, I can state with certainty that I will never discover one.”

“Still, there are smaller ones, aren’t there?”

“There are oilfields scattered all around the Persian Gulf. If too many were discovered, the price of oil would fall to cheaper than water.”

“Cheaper than… I’d rather not imagine that. And could you teach us—or rather, find those as well?”

“This time, I’ll stop with the great oilfield beneath our feet. As for the others, if no one else discovers them by the time they’re needed, then I suppose I’ll bring them up again. Otherwise, I think it would be perfectly fine if you all searched for them normally yourselves. I don’t think it would be that difficult.”

“…I see. I will be sure to convey this matter to all concerned parties.”

“Please do.”

“Certainly. Now then, regarding the contract itself, how shall we proceed?”

“If someone like me, with no greed, were to decide on my own, Sebastian and the others would be furious. Besides, a specialist will be arriving here shortly, so I’ll entrust full authority to him. Please work out the details thoroughly with him.”

“Understood. That person—is it the Idemitsu gentleman you two mentioned earlier?”

“Yes. He oversees our oil operations. He’s formidable and stubborn. I’m sure you’ll regret not finalizing matters with me instead.”

“Then it will be a negotiation worth the effort. Personally, I look forward to it.”

As we spoke about business, Mr. Smith seemed to regain his usual composure. And come to think of it, apart from my own people, he was the only outsider here, so at times I found myself slipping into my usual tone when speaking to him.

Even then, since it was in English, it probably only came across as slightly more casual English, but Mr. Smith showed no particular reaction. In other words, perhaps I could take it as him accepting that level of familiarity.
Or perhaps, since I was the client of a ten-billion-dollar deal, he was simply being maximally tolerant of my whims and selfishness.

And then there was the back-to-back discovery of these massive oilfields.
After finishing my talk with Mr. Smith, while making small talk with the others in the car, the thought slipped into the depths of my mind.

(Still, what am I even doing? Discovering things like this won’t have any real value until after the war. No, no, I can’t get negative. This should have reinforced the perception that I’m still very much the “goose that lays golden eggs,” and I’ve managed to secure major concessions for Japan’s future. It’s all good things, right? I did the right thing, didn’t I?)

I tried to stay positive, but I couldn’t escape the deeper thoughts lurking within me—
concerns about how much I had already twisted history and global affairs, and the guilt of knowing it was all for the sake of securing my own survival route.

But at the same time, I knew that overthinking was pointless. So I shook off the dark thoughts while gazing out from the car at the Arabian desert, where there was nothing but sand.

“Anyway, listen—this is going to be my very first time camping outdoors. I’m so excited!”

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Open Sesame:
The well-known magic phrase from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Apparently it’s actually a Persian tale, not from Iraq or the Arabian Peninsula. …I didn’t know that.

Barrel:
1 barrel = about 158.9 liters.
If calculated by weight, with crude oil’s specific gravity at around 80–90%, you can estimate the mass.
10 billion barrels = around 1.3 billion tons.

Petroleum:
Around 1940, Japan’s oil consumption was about 4 million tons per year. From the late 1960s onward, Japan consumed about 200–250 million tons per year.
In 1930, it was around 1.3 million tons—enough to be covered by all of northern Sakhalin plus the Niigata and Akita oilfields.
In this world, Japan is already consuming about 3 million tons.