The Third Miracle
Even in the frozen expanse of Siberia, spring had come. It was nature’s mysterious providence, yet to Frederick’s eyes, those yellow flames piercing through snow and ice seemed to have summoned spring to this place themselves.
The massive oil field that Chevron had struck lay fifty kilometers west of Irkutsk, a modest city on the western shore of Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake. Drilling hundreds of meters through dense coniferous forests, permafrost, and bedrock had released a torrent of natural gas and crude oil. The proof was right there in those yellow flames. The pressure from the well was so immense that the fire shooting from the derrick stretched ten meters long. Even at night it lit the surroundings brilliantly, giving a clear sense of the scale of the reservoir beneath.
Frederick’s gaze had been fixed on those flames for several minutes now.
“This makes three, doesn’t it?”
Though his eyes remained on the fire, his mind conjured images of the Texas wells and the shale gas and oil operations. All of them were miracles Tiffany had wrought since joining Chevron. Including this Siberian field in Irkutsk, the count reached three.
The number three held special meaning for Frederick. Decades ago, when he had taken the test to become Chevron’s owner, three had been the key word.
“Grandfather! You’re out here again?”
Just as his thoughts drifted back to that distant past, Tiffany’s voice—his beloved granddaughter—called from behind. In Siberia, the lowest temperatures only climbed above freezing in May. Tiffany, who felt the cold keenly, was bundled in a heavy coat and fur hat. No matter how she looked, she was endlessly endearing, and here in Siberia she seemed even more so.
“It’s been a while, Frederick.”
Beside her stood Yoo Jae-won, the man who had taken Tiffany away. Frederick gave a slight nod at his greeting. The fellow was infuriating for stealing his precious granddaughter, yet his abilities were undeniable. Even now that was clear. The discovery of this field, which had forced Frederick to drag his aging body all the way to harsh Irkutsk, was clearly thanks to the young man’s technology. Moreover, when Frederick had asked to meet urgently the day before, Jae-won had arrived in an instant—proof of flawless competence. That same competence was what now forced Frederick to confront a matter he would normally never consider: the question of succession.
“Tiffany, I need to borrow your husband for a moment.”
“All right, but please return him quickly! He must be exhausted after flying such a long way.”
Tiffany’s protective words left Frederick feeling oddly slighted. Still, he refused to show it in front of the young couple. With a swift turn, he strode away.
“I’m fine. Go rest first.”
Jae-won sent Tiffany back to their lodging and followed Frederick. Despite his age, the old man’s vigor remained impressive; in the few seconds it had taken to speak with Tiffany, he had already pulled far ahead.
Changing his destination from America to Russia on short notice was no small matter. Having visited Russia several times before, Jae-won found renewing his own visa relatively straightforward. His security team’s visas, however, along with weapons permits and coordination with Russian authorities, required extensive negotiations. He also had to seek understanding from the United States, for Jae-won was considered an ultra-high-value asset even there.
Though the Cold War had ended long ago, Russia remained an unreliable nation. No one could predict what schemes the Russians might devise if they got their hands on Jae-won. While his security detail was excellent, the Americans believed it would be no match for state-level operations and had tried to dissuade him from traveling to Russia. Yet once they learned his destination was not Moscow, Russia’s heart, but Irkutsk—where Chevron had struck oil—they stopped objecting outright. The situation in Irkutsk had changed completely with Chevron’s successful exploration. Massive equipment continued to arrive, and personnel were being reinforced, including Chevron’s own PMC contractors, whose capabilities rivaled those of regular troops. With Frederick, Chevron’s owner, also present, security had been tightened considerably. In the end, the Americans had granted permission only after additional guards were added to Jae-won’s private jet—guards who, needless to say, were CIA field operatives in all but name.
Thus Jae-won had flown straight to Russia, come directly to Irkutsk, and met Tiffany. But upon hearing that Frederick was waiting, he had no time to catch up and had to head straight to the site.
“Chevron’s history spans more than 120 years.”
Frederick did not begin speaking until he had walked all the way to the drilling rig where the yellow flames roared, stopping only when the site manager, pale with alarm, warned that further approach was dangerous.
“Our ancestors founded the company in 1879, so it has been exactly 124 years. At that point, one could fairly call Chevron’s daily progress its own history. Yet never in that time has anyone achieved three consecutive successes in such a short span as Tiffany has. Especially discovering a giant field like this one in Irkutsk entirely on our own—that hasn’t happened since the days of westward expansion.”
“History, you say.”
Indeed, for a company 124 years old, its accumulated records could rightly be called history.
“Have you received the briefing on the Irkutsk field?”
Jae-won shook his head. Having met Frederick immediately upon arrival, he had received no proper information. Of course, for Jae-won, information was never truly necessary.
“Those great yellow flames rising from the top of the rig mean the pressure inside the well is enormous. In plain terms, this is a field where oil would gush out if you simply stuck a straw into it. What’s remarkable is how different it is from the nearby Volga-Ural fields. There, you have to apply significant pressure to bring the oil up. Even the composition of the crude is quite different.”
The quality of Irkutsk crude was exceptionally high. It contained low levels of contaminants such as sulfur and lead that degrade petroleum, while holding substantial amounts of naphthenes and light fractions. This meant refining costs would be minimal and high-value gasoline could be extracted with ease.
It was all information Jae-won already knew. It matched exactly the geological data he had studied so thoroughly before his regression. In his previous life, the Irkutsk field had been so vast that by the mid-twenty-first century it had been called Russia’s final lifeline. Current estimates placed economically recoverable reserves at around thirty billion barrels, yet the actual capacity was far greater. Even after the shale gas revolution and the nuclear fusion revolution, Irkutsk’s importance had never diminished. Even after the United States succeeded with nuclear fusion power in the mid-twenty-first century, the cost of building plants remained astronomical, and many issues remained before the technology could be considered fully stable. Jae-won had begun studying the related technologies upon hearing of the first successful fusion plant, yet several years passed before he closed his eyes, and no further plants had followed the initial success. Traditional energy companies’ stocks had plummeted at the news, only to recover and surpass their previous levels within a few years. The reasons why the first fusion plant, named Ronstar, had never been followed by additional construction were never revealed.
“Well number twenty-three can be seen as beginner’s luck. Even after the second shale gas success, some doubt remained. But coming here to Irkutsk, I became certain. This isn’t luck—it’s skill.”
Frederick continued speaking. From the very beginning it had been skill, yet the traditionally minded Frederick had only acknowledged that skill after the success at Irkutsk.
“You have the face of someone who thinks this is only natural.”
Frederick’s words struck straight to the heart, as if he had read Jae-won’s mind.
“Ah, no, sir.”
“Of course it is. It can’t be helped. When you reach my age… No, someone like you, a genius, would be different. Anyway, when I was young I too felt I could accomplish anything. The lands that looked rich with oil were all embroiled in civil wars, and even when we succeeded in developing a field, war would break out again and again. Yet we overcame it all and planted Chevron’s flag.”
The era Frederick spoke of seemed to be the early twentieth century. The major oil companies, including Chevron, had been called the Seven Sisters and carried a notorious reputation, yet even they had earned their positions through their own efforts. For Chevron, Frederick’s entire youth had been poured into that struggle.
“If this were the early twentieth century, it would have been impossible for us to claim the Irkutsk field alone. Even if we had succeeded, we would have had to pay an enormous price in blood or bribes.”
Even now they would have to split the field fifty-fifty with Rosneft, but that was merely a formal arrangement. No country would stand idly by while foreign powers siphoned away its resources. Russia was no exception, and Siberian resource development was no different. On paper, Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, had commissioned T&U Research using its Siberian development rights. By acquiring T&U Research, Chevron had effectively taken over those rights. The split was fifty-fifty. Thus Rosneft received half without lifting a finger, yet the ratio could be renegotiated depending on how much each party contributed to development costs. Finding the field was one thing; transporting the extracted crude was another enormous undertaking. Unfortunately, Rosneft currently lacked the capacity. Though oil prices were soaring daily because of the Iraqi civil war, Rosneft was deeply entangled in that very conflict—the true cause of the price spike.
The Iraqi civil war appeared on the surface to stem from Saddam Hussein’s loss of control, but beneath it lay deep religious divisions within Islam. The conflict between Sunni and Shia had paralleled Islamic history itself. While eyeing Iraqi oil fields, Rosneft had seized the opportunity when the United States withdrew its troops. At first things went smoothly, but once the civil war engulfed them, Rosneft’s rosy future vanished like a mirage. The moment the war broke out, contracts with the Iraqi government became as worthless as bounced checks. Rosneft had to devote every resource to protecting the assets it had painstakingly acquired from rebel and revolutionary factions. Only Russia’s powerful backing made that possible. As soon as the Iraqi civil war erupted, Russia sided with Saddam and dispatched regular forces, allowing Rosneft to safeguard its assets from the rebels. Companies like BP, which had entered with only corporate personnel, could only watch as their newly built refineries turned into kindling. They too had not come to Iraq alone; they had contracted with PMCs. Yet when thousands of fanatical rebels attacked in earnest, the PMCs proved insufficient. With the United States gone, Russia and the European Union had stepped into the vacuum, shedding the blood the American military might otherwise have spilled.
For Rosneft, suffering heavy losses in Iraq, the Irkutsk field was an unexpected windfall, yet claiming the full promised fifty percent was unrealistic. From Chevron’s perspective, a seventy-thirty split was now within reach, along with the added benefit of deeper cooperation with Rosneft. While Gazprom was the most famous Russian energy company, Rosneft held significant influence in the oil sector. Rosneft maintained a special relationship with ExxonMobil, and the Irkutsk field had created an opening for Chevron to insert itself into that dynamic.
“With this success, that makes three miracles. So under normal circumstances, it would only be natural for Tiffany to succeed me.”
Jae-won nodded at Frederick’s words. No matter how he looked at Tiffany’s two aunts, neither possessed a single quality superior to Tiffany. If anything, observing their conduct made it remarkable that Tiffany’s mother and Tiffany herself had turned out so well.
“Yet doubt still lingers in my heart. Because of you.”
Frederick turned from the yellow flames and looked directly at Jae-won.
“If Tiffany had achieved all this entirely on her own strength, I would have no hesitation. But the fact that she has a helper like you troubles me.”
“I won’t deny that I helped, but the very fact that she trusted me—isn’t that also a measure of her ability?”
“Of course. Still, what happens in the generation after Tiffany? That thought applies the brakes.”
Jae-won had no rebuttal. As Frederick said, Chevron possessed 124 years of history. Tiffany could lead it to even greater heights, yet the possibility of a merger with ID Group had to be considered. For the Taylor family name to eventually change to Yoo within Chevron’s ownership would be a grave matter to those involved.
“I never thought I would be the sort to worry like an old man, yet age makes it inevitable.”
“I understand.”
Perhaps because of that, Jae-won suddenly felt Frederick’s shoulders looked remarkably small. On the day Tiffany had first introduced him, the Frederick he had seen in the mansion had seemed a giant standing on an impossibly high peak. That same Frederick was now simply a grandfather concerned for what would come after him.
“Yes. Thank you. So, tell me—could you perform one more miracle like this?”
One more? At Frederick’s next words, Jae-won’s expression shifted slightly. If Frederick had demanded that the Taylor family retain ownership after Tiffany, or forbidden any merger between ID Group and Chevron, the conversation would have taken a different turn. But locating another field on the scale of Irkutsk was no difficulty for Jae-won. Several undiscovered deposits of immense profitability remained in his memory—mere matters of choice.
“Of course.”
Jae-won agreed with ease. Frederick, however, looked surprised; he had expected at least some negotiation over conditions. Yet the straightforward acceptance only increased his favorable impression of the young man.
Later, in Irkutsk, with Russian Prime Minister Medvedev in attendance along with Rosneft executives, Tiffany, and Frederick, the success of the exploration and the development plan were officially announced. After concluding their business in Russia, Jae-won and his party returned directly to the United States.
What remained for Jae-won now was IDDC 2003—the moment to unveil innovations that would make the world’s eyes sparkle.