Minister Rashim's fingers began to lightly tap on the wooden armrest of the sofa, emitting a rhythmic, low thudding sound.
This was his habitual action when he was thinking.
His gaze moved between Song Heping and Yusuf, and Yusuf gave him a slight nod indicating "feasible."
"Oil payment is an option worth considering."
The minister slowly said, as if every word was weighed carefully.
"Given the current rough oil price, if I give you fifteen million barrels of crude oil, delivered over twelve months, about one million two hundred and fifty thousand barrels per month, how do you feel about that?"
Song Heping calculated rapidly in his mind.
Fifteen million barrels, at the current international oil price of about 70 dollars per barrel, has a total value of roughly one billion five hundred million dollars.
This presents a clear discrepancy with the fifteen billion dollar quote.
The minister couldn't have miscalculated this simple math problem.
