Hardy arrived in Long Beach with his team. Manager John had been waiting early and, seeing Hardy's convoy approach, rushed forward to open Hardy's car door.
"Boss, you're here." John greeted respectfully with a smile.
"Let's go, take to the oil well," Hardy said.
"Yes, boss."
After trekking a bit, they finally reached the oil well site. A tall iron structure stood in the distance, with workers busily moving around, and a nearby oil lake.
John enthusiastically explained, "Boss, this well we struck is a self-spouting well. The oil quality is excellent, and the output is very high, producing over 5,000 barrels of oil per day."
Hardy made a quick calculation.
At present, the price of oil was nearly fixed at $2.5 per barrel, and this price would likely remain stable for the next decade. Based on a daily output of 5,000 barrels, this well could generate about $4.5 million annually.
Of course,
There were still a lot of costs to be deducted. However, even after deducting expenses, the profit could still reach half.
Over $2 million per year.
To Hardy, that was not much anymore.
But Hardy was still pleased.
The discovery of this well had sparked his interest in continuing within the oil industry. After returning to the company, Hardy thought it over and instructed his secretary to find Armand Hamr's number and dialed him.
Once the call connected, they exchanged a few pleasantries, discussing the small black cattle Hamr was raising, but Hardy soon shifted the topic, saying: "Mr. Hamr, a few months ago, I acquired a small oil company. Yesterday, they struck an oil well with a decent output, producing 5,000 barrels a day, which can generate $4.5 million annually."
"Oh, congratulations, Mr. Hardy."
Armand Hamr congratulated him, though he wasn't sure why Hardy was bringing up the oil company.
"Mr. Hamr, would you be interested in running this oil company with ?" Hardy asked directly.
Hardy didn't want to waste ti.
If Armand Hamr was willing to run the business, Hardy would be happy to have a managent genius help him make money. If not, Hardy could manage it himself.
Armand Hamr was surprised by Hardy's proposal.
After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Mr. Hardy, why are you suddenly inviting into the oil industry? I don't have any experience in this field."
"Just a feeling."
"You know I have many businesses, and I'm looking for partners to help run them. After interacting with you, I felt you had great insight into managent and extensive experience. When I was thinking about how to manage the oil company, I suddenly thought of you, so I called to ask if you'd be interested."
Armand Hamr thought to himself, "This is so casual."
Letting , soone with no experience in oil, manage an oil business based on just a feeling?
"I'm curious, how would this partnership work?" Hamr asked.
"How about a stake in the business? You could buy a part of the company's shares. I think 15-20% would be good, and I'd give you an additional 5% of managent shares," Hardy suggested.
Hamr paused, "Mr. Hardy, I'll need to think about it."
"That's fine, take your ti," Hardy replied.
After hanging up the phone, Hamr sat on the sofa for a long ti, wondering if he should take on this business.
He didn't understand why Hardy had approached him.
He had previously run a pencil factory, then a ranch raising cattle, but he had never touched the oil industry. Still, Hardy's words had piqued his interest.
Why? His ranch business was now running smoothly, and Hamr was a restless man.
Hardy's proposal rekindled his entrepreneurial spirit.
The next day.
Hamr called Hardy, "Hardy, I've decided to give it a try."
"Haha, welco. I'll be waiting for you in Los Angeles," Hardy replied with a laugh.
Hamr soon arrived in Los Angeles. After eting with Hardy, they visited the oil field again, and after inspecting the new well, Hamr decided to invest.
For $850,000, Hamr bought 15% of the company's shares and acquired 5% in managent shares, becoming the company's executive president.
In the oil company's office, the three of them discussed the future developnt of the company. Hardy pulled out a pre-prepared map, spread it out, and pointed to a location.
"The Middle East is an oil-rich region, especially Saudi Arabia, which has vast oil resources. We can develop oil fields there."
Hamr and John were both surprised.
John said, "Boss, most of the Saudi land is already occupied by several major British oil companies and Mobil. We probably can't squeeze in."
Hamr also said, "There's still a war going on in the Middle East. It might not be the best ti."
Hardy smiled.
"The war doesn't concern us, so don't worry about that. As for the land, I think there's a good place that no one's occupying yet," Hardy said.
"Where?" they both asked.
Hardy pointed to a region on the map. The label read "Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait."
"This area is desert and hilly terrain. To the north is Kuwait, to the south is Saudi Arabia, and to the east is the Persian Gulf. This land is disputed between the two countries, but it's now confird as a neutral zone. Both nations have rights to the minerals here, aning whoever drills gets the oil."
"This area covers 2,200 square miles, plenty of land for us to search for oil. Hamr, I'd like you to go to Saudi Arabia and negotiate for the drilling rights in this area."
Hamr thought for a mont, "Do you really think there's oil here?"
"Soone previously surveyed the area and said it didn't match the characteristics of an oil field. But I think there's oil."
"Why do you think so?"
"Just a gut feeling, also the last ti the area was survied was before WW2 the technology wasn't mature enough back then." Hardy smiled.
Once again, relying on gut feeling, Hamr thought. Why does Hardy always act based on intuition? In fact, Hardy knew that in the future, this area would indeed produce a huge oil field, making an Arican businessman a billionaire.
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