Chapter 57: Quite the Claim!
On the other side, in the prefabricated building at the construction site, Liu Shang, who hadn't gone to sleep until the wee hours, was still lying lazily in bed, exchanging texts with Jiang Ruolin, telling her how much he missed her.
As a young man in his prime, stuck out in the wilderness, flirting with his charming girlfriend over text sent a wave of desire through him.
What was he doing in this desolate place instead of enjoying his beautiful university and his girlfriend?
Just then, the sound of two cars screeching to a halt came from outside the building.
Then, several figures burst into the room in a hurry.
The leader was none other than Han Ping, the captain of the fifth oil production team whom he had met the night before.
Almost immediately, Han Ping, his face etched with anxiety, locked his eyes on Liu Shang on the upper bunk bed.
"Hey! Brother, it's already ten o'clock in the morning! Why haven't you gotten up yet?"
Liu Shang poked his head out with a groan. "Captain Han, you know what time we all went to bed last night."
"Since early this morning, I don't know how many groups of people have already been by. I haven't slept well at all."
"And you? How are you so energetic after going to sleep so late?"
Hearing this, Han Ping couldn't help but smile wryly. "You think I'm not sleepy? You think I don't want to sleep well?"
"But do I dare?!"
"If anything goes wrong on my watch, Director Pan would have my head!"
"Early this morning, before I could even assign today's work, the factory's engineering department already stormed the place. It's been a chaotic morning!"
"Let's not talk about this now. Time is running out. Brother, get up quickly. I'm here to take you to the plant."
"Director Pan and Chief Zhang are waiting for you to start the meeting!"
Grumbling, Liu Shang reluctantly got up and washed his face, complaining the whole time.
"I'm telling you, Captain Han, I haven't even eaten since last night. I'm starving."
"Why don't you wait and let me grab a bite first?"
Without a second thought, Han Ping dragged him into the car before he could finish his sentence.
"Hey, brother, we don't have time for that!"
"After you finish your meeting at the plant, I'll personally bring you to my team's headquarters for a meal. You can eat as much as you want."
"Good wine and good food, I'll make sure you're taken care of!"
"By the way, stop calling me Captain Han. Call me Brother Han from now on!"
***
When Liu Shang was brought into the meeting room at the plant's main office, Director Pan Qingfeng, geologist Zhang Zhengmao, and a dozen other technicians were already there.
"Hehe, Liu Shang is here?"
"Come on, come sit next to me!"
Seeing Liu Shang arrive, Pan Qingfeng, who was in a spectacular mood, greeted him warmly and motioned for him to sit in the chair beside him.
At this time, Zhang Zhengmao also smiled and handed the production data for the oil and water wells to Liu Shang.
"Liu Shang, just as you predicted yesterday, two of the surrounding oil wells have already shown results."
"The work you've done on this well is truly impressive!"
Liu Shang took the data, glanced at it briefly, and then smiled confidently. "This is just the beginning, and only two wells have shown results so far."
"As the construction continues, the effect on the surrounding wells will be even better."
His words grated on the ears of the dozen or so engineers and geologists present.
Technology in the oilfield relies heavily on experience.
Especially for measures like profile control, targeting complex strata conditions more than 1000 meters underground, how could anyone be so certain? For a mere freshman to say this—wasn't he being a bit too arrogant?
Zhang Zhengmao, however, had witnessed Liu Shang's technical expertise and amazing conceptual understanding the night before, so he felt Liu Shang's words were quite credible.
And this scene, as Pan Qingfeng watched, caused his eyes to shine with even greater interest. He found this young man more and more fascinating.
Zhang Zhengmao smiled at this time. "Liu Shang, we are going to conduct an in-depth technical discussion on the construction and effects of this well, with the final goal of producing a technical report."
"You were the field commander for this well's construction, and these results are from your hands, so among everyone present, you have the most authority to speak on this."
"Please share with Director Pan and the others the technical concept you explained to me yesterday."
"Also, if we want to use this well as a breakthrough to conduct research into the technical mechanism, what aspects do you think we should start with?"
Liu Shang nodded. He didn't waste time on false modesty or lengthy thank yous, but instead answered Zhang Zhengmao's question simply and directly.
He had dealt with these client-side managers too many times and knew they loved to drag out meetings.
Having not even eaten yet, he didn't have the time or the mood to waste the day with them.
"Speaking of the technical concept for this well, it's also very simple."
"It's simply about correcting a fundamental misunderstanding in profile control technology that exists in both domestic and international oilfields. We've taken a more correct path and chosen a truly correct construction method."
As soon as these words left his mouth, they drew gasps from the technicians present, followed by a wave of whispered discussions and even condemnations.
"Is this kid really a student from the University of Oil? Isn't he talking a little too arrogantly?"
"Hehe, not just a student, a first-year student! He's only been enrolled for a few months!"
"According to people inside Huahai, this is supposedly his first time on-site, his first time touching actual technical construction."
"This kid just got lucky. It was a stroke of dumb luck, messing around with a well that just happened to show results!"
"To hear him talk, you'd think he was the world's top expert in petroleum technology!"
"Forget him, I'm afraid even the most distinguished professors and post-docs at the University of Oil wouldn't dare say something like that."
"Exactly. I don't know what Chief Zhang and Director Pan are thinking, making us wait all this time for some immature student to come here and brag!"
At this time, Liu Shang ignored their skeptical murmurs and continued loudly:
"The current mainstream profile control technology, both domestically and internationally, is based on high-strength, high-pressure blocking of large, water-channeling pores."
"In theory, there is nothing wrong with this, but many people forget to consider objective factors like the specific area, oil reservoir, and geological characteristics."
"Take the reservoir conditions of our third oil production plant as an example: relatively low porosity and low permeability, mainly sandstone, and at the same time, strong fracture development."
"So, if we use the previous high-strength, high-pressure plugging method, the range of the plugging agent will be very small given these reservoir conditions."
"Considering our average well spacing of about 250 meters, I'm afraid the agent wouldn't even reach a range of 50 meters, maybe not even 30 meters."
"But the construction I have done on this well is a low-strength, low-pressure, polymer gel-based method."
"According to the breakthrough rate and curve I've calculated, our range can reach at least 100 meters at present, and it will extend farther and deeper as the construction progresses."
"It's like when a doctor sees a patient. The ailment is in the stomach, but the medicine prescribed loses its effect the moment it reaches the mouth. The principle is the same."
As Liu Shang continued his eloquent explanation, Zhang Zhengmao, who was already mentally prepared, kept nodding slightly. Like a student listening intently to a lecture, he even began to take careful notes in his technical notebook.
And next to him, the playful amusement in Pan Qingfeng's eyes vanished, replaced by a look of profound surprise and shock.
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