Empire of the Ring

Yamal, the northernmost part of Siberia, meant a village at the end of the earth in the local language.

The Ural Mountains, which divided Asia and Europe, was stretched toward the Arctic Ocean, and the Yamal Peninsula was the end of the mountains.

It was close to the Yenisei River, which was being developed by Kazakhstan.

There was a huge amount of oil and gas buried in this area, so Putin ambitiously rolled up his sleeves and started developing it.

However, Russia’s lack of ability to carry out development projects with its economic power had attracted French and Chinese capital.

China could not be ruled out of this project unlike other projects going on in Russia as China had invested more than three billion dollars. If Russia did so, it would have to pay for development funds and penalties which it could not afford.

It was estimated to have 230 million tons of natural gas buried in Yamal and 290 million tons of crude oil.

The Yamal project was a plan to produce 16.5 million tons of natural gas annually from a gas field in the Yamal Peninsula to use it as a stepping stone to escape economic sanctions.

The stake in the Yamal project was 50 percent owned by Novatek, Russian gas company, 20 percent by Total of France, and 30 percent by China.

Now in Yamal, LNG production had just begun and its first export to China was made.

However, as the sea would freeze off the Yamal Peninsula as it was the northernmost part of Siberia, powerful icebreakers or icebreaking LNG carriers were needed.

It was a problem because the ice was almost two meters thick in coastal areas, so it could not be handled by a normal icebreaker.

So Novatek would place a second order following the first icebreaking LNG carrier order, but the problem was that the price of the icebreaking LNG carrier was close to 300 million dollars per ship.

The biggest beneficiary of the Yamal project was none other than South Korea’s D-Chosun, which won the first order of all 15 ships.

Thinking that the second-order would be on a similar scale, D-Chosun was trying hard to win Novatek’s favor.

Korea’s H Corporation and S Corporation were also targeting the Yamal project by establishing a joint venture with the Zvezda shipyard under Russia’s state-run Far East shipyard, respectively.

In any case, until the pipeline was built, they had no choice but to rely on LNG carriers for the time being.

Since using the pipeline would be the most economical way to transport gas to other nations of the world, Putin was hoping the Kazakh royal family would take part in the pipeline construction.

Listening to Putin’s story, Youngho diligently calculated the benefits of the project in his head.

The pipeline project was also as attractive as the oil extraction, but construction conditions across the frozen soil were not easy. He was hesitant to give an agreement.

“Your Highness, what do you think? Isn’t this a mouthwatering business? Isn’t it more attractive than doing icebreaker business in the Arctic Ocean?”

“It’s a tempting proposal, but it won’t be easy to pass through the tundra.”

The tundra region was a cold zone with a weak ground.

Also, as the region turned into swamps in the summer, the construction work would be more difficult than working on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

If the pipe was twisted, crude oil would flow down, which would be close to disaster.

In addition, the working environment of employees that managed pipelines was also poor, making it difficult to recruit people.

“It’s called a high-risk high return. It’s difficult to build and manage the pipeline, so you can charge more shipping costs.”

It was Putin who made it more tempting.

“Do Russian state-owned enterprises also participate?”

“I believe they should.”

Putin was looking forward to the pipeline construction.

People would prefer using the pipeline as it would be cheaper than normal shipping cost.

“If the Kazakh royal family is involved in pipeline work, I’m willing to do gas field work in the second district of Yamal with the royal family, too.”

Youngho looked at Putin wondering what he meant.

Was there another gas field in the Yamal area?

Youngho sat close to the table.

“This offer is really mouth-watering.”

“I knew it. Russia never forgets the help of our friends. All the gas and oil in the Yamal region will be drilled in the next 20 years or so. With that much amount alone, it’s a bit of a waste to build a pipeline. We’ve also found that amount of reserves nearby. That’s why we’re trying to lay pipelines.”

“We will actively review your proposal. We will first send a working group to conduct a feasibility survey for the pipeline construction, but may I invite some foreign friends?”

“I’m glad to hear that. If multiple companies are involved, the burden on Russia will be reduced that much.”

***

Returning from Moscow, Youngho invited major oil companies to Kazakhstan.

It was because they had a lot of experience with pipeline construction.

Major oil companies had also built underwater pipelines, so the construction in the permafrost would not be too burdensome.

Most companies would participate if the Kazakh royal family guaranteed their profits.

Youngho, who had been busy with his schedule after visiting Russia, called Park Jong-il out of curiosity about the situation of the Aliyev family. It was because he now had many places to spend money.

“Did you find any additional slush funds from the Aliyev family?”

“Is that all you can ask from me?”

It seemed Aliyev was giving him a hard time.

“It’s because there are not one or two places to spend money in.”

There was still some money left from Aliyev, but Youngho wanted more.

“Jeez. He’s quite heavy-mouthed. Fortunately, he’s starting to open up after I convinced him that we’ll give a certain amount back, but that’s not everything. If we hold onto him a little longer, he will confess. I told him that his aides will swallow everything over time, and he got very upset.”

“I don’t have any lingering feelings for him now, so force him to open his mouth. He’s had enough chances.”

“I’ll have to mention your name.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’d be scared to hear that the patience of the Duke has run out. Then he won’t be able to hold out any longer.”

“I’d be glad if you can let him talk that way.”

“Hey, by the way, who’s going to manage the pipeline section if we get involved in the pipeline project?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m thinking about turning the direction from Yamal to the Yenisei River. That way, it overlaps with the section we’re developing, so I think we’ll be able to manage the pipeline. And if you lay it along the Yenisei River, you’ll save construction costs, too.”

“If we can cut construction costs, we should do that. For now, I’ll ask major oil companies to consider that section when they do a feasibility survey.”

“That’s not what I mean. Managing the pipeline means that you can preoccupy the area soon, and I heard that there will be a pressurization facility in the oil transfer plant. They say the employee size will be huge. So, why don’t we take charge of it? Wouldn’t it be possible because we’re the main contractor? We can take charge of security and development of the area.”

Since it was a frozen area, it would save construction costs by exposing it to the ground instead of laying it underground.

In that case, there should also be security personnel responsible for the safety of the pipeline, and personnel for management should also be stationed. This meant that the royal family could occupy the area.

Park Jong-il wanted to prepare for the future.

That would not be Kazakhstan’s territory, but it could be a ground to claim the preemptive rights in the event of a sudden change in Russia.

“That’s a very good idea. We can’t do construction with our technology, but we can provide people to manage and secure the pressurization facility and the pipeline. Cha In-soo will like it.”

It would be an opportunity to grow his security company.

“It is killing two birds with one stone because we can utilize the surplus manpower of the private military company as well as the security company.”

If Cha In-soo heard it, he would jump up and down in excitement.

He had been expecting that he would be able to grow the private military company when the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan but was discouraged as the U.S. government’s decision had been delayed.

The pipeline length was about thousands of kilometers, one or two hundreds of people would not be enough to guard it.

Even if Russia took charge of the Chinese border section or section with military facilities, the pipeline investors should be responsible for the rest of the section.

“The construction conditions are terrible, so will major oil companies do well?”

“We have a lot of experience in Siberia, so we should help in guiding the construction. Engineers and workers who haven’t been there will run away without holding out for a few days.”

The tundra and taiga regions were freezing in winter and muddy in summer.

It was the worst construction condition especially for workers who had no experience in such environments.

Kazakhstan already had a lot of experience in Siberian development, so the workers had been adapted to the region.

Sergeenko, the local mafia boss, was also a great business partner of the royal family, and the native Evenki people were also acquainted with Youngho, so there was plenty of room for help.

“It was a good thing that we preoccupied Siberia.”

“Yes, there were the Evenks and the mafia. Sergeenko is also an Evenk, so he’ll do well if we let him be in charge of the pipeline management.”

“Great. Man, we’ll be taking over Siberia at this rate.”

The project had not started yet, but Youngho and Jong-il were already dreaming big.