Chapter 14: Proving His Worth
Just as Manager Sun had expected, the moment Liu Shang finished speaking, the previously relaxed atmosphere in the conference room froze. A wave of involuntary frowns went around the room.
Some of the mid-level technical staff in their forties even let out a soft scoff.
What a joke. *We've* worked in the oil fields for more than ten years and our monthly salaries are only in that range.
You're a freshman at Fengcheng Oil University, what could you possibly know? And you have the nerve to ask for that kind of money!
You're confident you can handle the position? Are all students these days so arrogant and overconfident?
In fact, they were completely misjudging Liu Shang.
Even before his rebirth, Liu Shang's technical expertise and vision were enough to surpass nearly everyone in the entire oil industry.
That wasn't even considering the state of petroleum technology more than a decade in the past.
With Liu Shang's level of skill, interviewing for a technical position with a salary of only 4000 yuan was, in fact, an act of extreme humility.
After hearing Liu Shang's words, the owner, Song Guangyuan, who was seated in the center, simply nodded. "Well, since he came all the way to Huahai today, I think we should give him this chance."
"It's perfect, actually. The purpose of our meeting today is to discuss technical solutions. Mr. Xu, since this is a project you're in charge of, you can give him a test question to prove his technical ability."
"After all, this is right up your alley!"
After Song Guangyuan's humorous remark, everyone in the meeting room chuckled.
At this moment, HR Manager Sun kindly leaned in and whispered to Liu Shang, "Liu Shang, this is Mr. Xu, a retired professor from your university, Xu Tiande. He's an expert in oilfield chemistry."
"Whether it's in the oil fields or at your school, he is very famous and highly respected."
Liu Shang followed everyone's gaze. The old professor was about sixty years old, with a very kind and easy-going temperament.
At this time, Professor Xu was also looking at Liu Shang with a smile and spoke slowly. "Liu Shang, is it?"
"This is a fine young man. At the very least, your spirit and your courage to try are highly commendable."
Hearing his words, the executives next to him laughed and joked, "See? Professor Xu sets the tone right from the start."
"As expected of a professor, always has a soft spot for talent!"
Xu Tiande smiled, ignoring their jokes, and continued to address Liu Shang. "Liu Shang, allow me to first give you a brief introduction to Huahai."
"Under the leadership of Mr. Song, our company is mainly engaged in providing technical services for oil fields."
"As a student of Oil University, you naturally know that our oil fields primarily consist of oil production wells and water injection wells."
"And what we are going to discuss in today's meeting is the profile control technology for water injection wells."
"Since Mr. Song has asked me to come up with a question, why don't you start by talking about your views on profile control methods."
For Liu Shang, these conventional technical procedures in the oil field were second nature; they presented no difficulty at all.
So without any hesitation, Liu Shang replied directly and naturally, "Currently, oil field production in our country primarily uses the water flooding development method."
"That is, by injecting water through the water injection wells, we provide energy to the formation, thereby displacing the crude oil in the reservoir."
"However, during the long-term water flooding process, the erosion from the injected water often forms water channeling pathways or large water absorption channels around the water injection well and in the surrounding reservoir zone."
"In such cases, the efficiency and purpose of water injection are greatly reduced. At the same time, an invalid water cycle is formed, which further increases the cost of oil recovery."
"Not only that, if this kind of problem isn't dealt with and stopped in time, the harm it causes will only grow, and it will become increasingly difficult to manage."
"Therefore, a technical solution is needed to solve this problem, and that is the profile control technology of water injection wells."
"The ultimate purpose of this technology is to inject various types of plugging agents from the water injection well to block those water channeling pathways and high-water-absorption layers. This improves the water absorption profile of the well, enhances water flooding efficiency, and ultimately slows the production decline of the oil reservoir to enhance recovery."
After Liu Shang expressed his understanding in an extremely concise, yet incredibly accurate and easy-to-understand way, everyone present was taken aback.
No one could have imagined that this student, whom they had already labeled as arrogant and all talk, could actually answer Professor Xu's question so fluently.
And the quality of his answer was impeccable.
After listening to Liu Shang, Professor Xu Tiande's eyes visibly lit up.
From his first impression, he already had a very good feeling about Liu Shang, a young man who was so full of spirit and energy.
Although Liu Shang's request was a bit audacious, he was, after all, just a kid who had recently started university.
In his decades of teaching, Xu Tiande had encountered countless young college students, so he wasn't as put off by Liu Shang's confidence as the others were.
Young people are supposed to be vigorous and a bit rebellious, aren't they?
At the very least, the young man in front of him had a sincere desire to improve himself. That was far better than the students who were just wasting their time on campus eating, drinking, and chasing girls, right?
So, in his heart, Xu Tiande had already made up his mind. Even if Liu Shang failed today, he would do his best to keep this young man and take him under his wing to train him.
But Liu Shang's performance truly exceeded his expectations. He had not anticipated that Liu Shang could answer his question so smoothly.
And judging by his confident delivery, it was obvious he really had a solid foundation of knowledge.
"Hehe, in our textbooks and online, you can find a lot of material on oilfield development, profile control technology, and various other procedures."
"But most of it is cumbersome, long-winded, and overly theoretical."
"And Liu Shang's simple explanation just now has perfectly outlined the concept of water flooding, as well as the genesis and principles of profile control technology."
"The most valuable part is that, from his words, it's not difficult to see he has his own genuine understanding of this technology."
"Let me put this objectively: the answers from the senior students I've supervised for their graduation theses are all inferior to Liu Shang's."
"Mr. Zhong, Mr. Ye, you are both veteran experts with decades of experience in oilfield technology. What do you think?"
At this, Mr. Zhong, an expert of about the same age sitting next to Xu Tiande, nodded repeatedly. "To be honest, the answer Liu Shang just gave truly exceeded my expectations."
"I was all ready to deliver a harsh lecture to put a young man in his place."
"But it looks like I won't get to use it."
His words drew a round of laughter from the room. After a pause, Mr. Zhong continued, "However, this is just the beginning. It shows that we really do need to give this young man a chance to prove his technical ability today, and that we haven't wasted the precious time of Mr. Song and everyone else."
"Liu Shang, let me tell you, Professor Xu here is an expert in geology and chemistry, while my background is in oilfield machinery and technology."
"The question I'm going to ask you next is one for which you'll have a hard time finding a standard answer in any book!"
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