Chapter 920: Con Man Xia Yu

"So, Mr. Xia, what do you want to do with this...compass?'

George W. Bush said the word "compass" awkwardly, and asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Xia Yu said mysteriously, 'I'll use it to find oil!'

'Find oil?'

George W. Bush's eyes widened once again, and his gaze moved back and forth between Xia Yu and the compass in his hand. He said incredulously, 'It can also find oil?'

'Of course!'

Xia Yu said without hesitation, as firmly as he could.

Now he would be playing the role of a fraud... a charlatan, and of course he had to fool himself as well, otherwise how could he convincingly fool George W. Bush?

'This is incredible, is it really that amazing?'

George W. Bush rubbed his temples a little sadly. Although he still felt in his heart that such a thing should not exist in the world, he could only half believe it when he saw Xia Yu's solemn expression and that he didn't know about it either.

Looking at the constantly spinning needle on the compass, George W. Bush shook his head slightly, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

It seemed that he had calmed down. He thought of an extremely crucial point, and, fixing his gaze on Xia Yu, asked, 'Mr Xia, you just said that this is a magician's prop. You can use this compass, so are you an oriental geomancer?'

Xia Yu nodded calmly and said, 'My master is a geomancer. I studied with him for a few years. Although I am not proficient, I can still use it to find oil.'

'Whether it's true or not, you will know after seeing it with your own eyes.'

Bush Jr. swallowed the words of surprise that were about to escape his lips and said a little dryly, 'I look forward to a miracle before my very eyes!'

'Then Mr. Bush, I will show the way next!'

Xia Yu said.

'Okay.'

'Rose, go ahead and lead the way.'

After Bush Jr. agreed, he immediately instructed the driver to overtake the car in front.

After the car became the lead car, Xia Yu solemnly held his compass flat in front of George W. Bush, watching the needle in the centre of the compass swaying back and forth, and occasionally looking around.

Fortunately, the two jeeps were open-topped, so Xia Yu's view was not obstructed in the slightest.

'Turn left!'

'Steer the car 30 degrees to the right and keep going straight.'

'Keep going straight!'

...

As Xia Yu continued to give instructions, the convoy scrambled around, passing by many oil fields that were being exploited.

Every time they passed an oil field, the needle on the compass moved around more, which amazed George W. Bush.

Judging from the compass's reaction to the oil fields, it seemed...it seemed that there really was a connection?

Could it be that this mysterious magical item from the East could really find oil?

Unconsciously, George W. Bush's heart grew more and more excited.

He had already failed hundreds of times, and he really hoped that he would succeed once!

In fact, it is normal for a compass to react to oil fields. Xia Yu had considered this before he came, otherwise he would not have gone out of his way to buy this compass. If there was no reaction, it would be like slapping oneself in the face!

In the field of oil exploration, there is a method called magnetic exploration.

The principle of magnetic exploration is not complicated.

The magnetism of various rocks and minerals is different. The magnetic strength of various parts of the ground is measured to study the distribution of underground rocks and minerals and the geological structure. This is called magnetic exploration.

In oil and gas fields, a reducing environment is formed due to the seepage of hydrocarbons to the surface, which can reduce iron oxide in rocks or soil to magnetite. A magnetometer can detect this anomaly and, in conjunction with other exploration methods, locate oil and gas fields.

Therefore, there is definitely a magnetic field in the oilfield area, not to mention the fact that various metal or non-metal objects are built on the surface of the oilfield area itself.

To put it more broadly, everything has a magnetic field, and the magnetic field in the oilfield area is stronger.

Plus Xia Yu and the others were in the car, their position was not fixed, and the strength of the magnetic field at each position was different. Moving quickly from position to position would interfere with the compass, making it unstable, and the needle would naturally spin around.

Using this situation to fool George W. Bush was simply perfect.

The significant change in the compass before and after arriving at the oilfield was not just strong evidence to support his previous statement?

Looking at the increasingly expectant expression on George W. Bush's face and the strange look he was giving the compass, you could tell that he was gradually being led into the ditch.

'Almost, time to move,'

he thought to himself, and looking at the 'Mobil' sign on one of the buildings in the oilfield, he pointed west and said, 'Keep driving that way.'

The large area where Xia Yu and the others were located was the West Texas Basin, also known as the Permian Basin.

The Permian Basin is famous for its rich oil deposits.

During the Permian and Triassic periods, it was a basin completely connected to a vast delta.

This basin includes three interconnected but distinct sedimentary areas, from east to west: the Midland Basin, where Xia Yu is now, the Delaware Basin and the Malfa Basin.

The massive subsidence during the Permian period caused various salts to be deposited in the basin, forming a large barrier reef with a diverse marine animal community. The basin also contains a large amount of oil, which is trapped inside due to the porous Permian reef.

The Permian Basin is one of the main oil producing areas in Texas and one of the most important oil producing areas in the United States!

According to statistics, crude oil production in the future could reach 70 million tons. If one ton equals seven barrels, the crude oil production in the Permian Basin could reach 490 million barrels per year!

The average daily production is 1.34 million barrels!

In August 2017, the daily crude oil production in the United States exceeded 10 million barrels, making it the world's largest oil-producing country!

After careful calculation, the oil production in the Permian Basin accounts for 13.4% of the entire United States!

It is not low!

From this, we can see the status of Texas in the American oil industry.

Before they knew it, Xia Yu was guiding the car to the desolate area, and the oil extraction areas they passed on the way became sparser and sparser.

'We're here. Stop 100 metres ahead!'

After Xia Yu's command, the car stopped. Xia Yu opened the door, jumped out, and held the compass in one hand as he spun around in place.

At this time, George W. Bush also got out of the car and came over to Xia Yu's side. He asked with some anticipation, 'Mr Xia, is there any oil here?'

Xia Yu did not answer, but looked far to the northeast and asked George W. Bush, 'Mr. Bush, which company owns the oil field we passed by just now?'

George W. Bush frowned slightly and replied, "When we passed by, the oil field on the left was owned by Exxon, and the one on the right was owned by our family's company.'

Xia Yu nodded slightly and did not say anything, but secretly thought to himself, "That's right, this is the place!'

If nothing goes wrong, in a few years' time, the piece of land under his feet will be taken over by the Bush family's oil company, which will then explore the underground oil that can be extracted, and the reserves will reach 10 million barrels, which is worth nearly 400 million US dollars at the current oil price.

Of course, the oil price will fall again soon, so it is still worth 100 to 200 million US dollars.

Plus, there are some natural gas reserves, which can add nearly 100 million US dollars in value.

However, because there are also costs involved in mining, plus the laying of various other hardware facilities, the company's operating and management costs, taxes, etc., if this oil field is fully exploited, it can generate a net profit of 70-80 million US dollars.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xia Yu did not waste any time. Holding the compass, he began to walk around, his expression very solemn, and mumbling under his breath, looking exactly like a charlatan.

However, if a Chinese person were to listen to him muttering next to him, they would definitely be able to hear the incantation he was chanting: 'Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Supreme Lord Lao Zi, show your signs quickly, heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Supreme Lord Lao Zi, show your signs quickly...'

Li Wuming, who was standing next to Xia Yu, understood what was going on. When he glanced at the solemn faces of the Americans, including George W. Bush, Jr., his eyes twitched and his heart felt like it was being squeezed.

He knew that his father had never taught Xia Yu about geomancy, but now Xia Yu had fooled a bunch of foreigners into thinking they were idiots. If he wasn't used to keeping a straight face, he would have burst out laughing.

Finally, when they reached a certain place, the needle on the compass suddenly started spinning violently. This was the place with the most chaotic magnetic field.

Xia Yu immediately made a surprised expression and exclaimed excitedly, 'There's oil here!'

'Really?'

With a "wow," a group of people all gathered around, and George W. Bush asked Xia Yu anxiously but hopefully.

Xia Yu's smile did not change, and he nodded firmly, saying, 'Really, according to the compass, this is where wealth converges.'

'Look!'

said Xia Yu, pointing his finger at the sky and then at the distant mountains around them. He spoke in Chinese: 'In the northeast of the compass, everything is yang, but here, the northeast is yin and yang; in the southwest, everything is yin, but here, the southwest is yang. This is the meaning of the two yin and four yang...'

It would be strange if George W. Bush and the others could understand what Xia Yu was saying in Chinese. They just stared at him, dumbfounded.

Xia Yu stopped after a few sentences. He would never admit that he had only remembered these Feng Shui terms that he had just heard from the antique shop owner the day before.

It didn't matter if he said a few more or a few less sentences, as long as George W. Bush couldn't understand him!

As long as it had the desired effect!

Xia Yu said to George W. Bush in English, with a hint of frustration, 'What I just said were professional Feng Shui terms, all of them ancient Chinese characters that cannot be translated into English. You wouldn't understand them either, so I won't waste any more time. As long as you know there is an oil field here, that's fine.'

'Mr. Bush, arrange for someone to start exploring here right away!'

Bush, whose mood was unusually high, did not hesitate. He immediately called his staff to start setting up the exploration equipment.

As he watched the group of people busily getting to work, Li Wuming whispered in Xia Yu's ear, 'Boss, is there really oil here?'

'There should be. My intuition is usually pretty accurate!'

Xia Yu nodded.

In fact, the place where he was was right above the oil field, so he could have just picked any place to test, and he had just picked a place where the compass needle was swinging wildly.

In the 1980s, there were not many technological innovations in oil exploration, so since this place would be explored by the Bush family's oil company in a few years, there was no reason why it could not be explored now.

He has carefully selected this place, so he is very confident!