Mfinda Oilfield was an oilfield originally owned by SANR, supposedly taken over by UNITA and guarded by the CFA soldiers in the Angola-Zaire border region. It was located near the Munene River.[1] It had three chimneys that were directly connected to the place that burns impurities within the oil wells, which results in thick smoke.[2] The process of burning impurities as well as poor ventilation also resulted in the smoke being mixed with sulfides, leading to the region possessing acid rain.[3]
The supposed takeover by UNITA was a cover story created by SANR in order to continue operating the oilfield while being free of any responsibility in a case of an oil leak.[4] SANR itself was just a shell corporation[5] and Mfinda Oilfield was actually used by Cipher to cover up the spread of infection in the surrounding region. With SANR as proxy, Cipher polluted the water with oil, thus preventing people in villages downstream from drinking it and therefore halting the spread of infection though water. However, when the Oilfield was sabotaged by Venom Snake in 1984, oil was no longer in the water and the villages downstream did get infected.[6]
Behind the scenes[]
In Pitch Dark, prior to arriving at Mfinda Oilfield proper, the player can find a burned down village and the charred remains of the villagers. There was originally going to be a radio call from Ocelot where he explained that the village had been the victim of an oil leak, and it somehow ignited, and that the fire teams took its time and were not called in (implying that SANR/XOF deliberately avoided calling the fire teams and possibly leaked crude to the village to cover up the fact that they were infected by the vocal cord parasites). However, it ended up cut from the final version, although the call itself can be found in the code, and Ocelot still gives a call noting the village was burned down as well as the charred remains of the villagers in the game itself.
If the player uses binoculars to observe the smokestacks and uses the radio, Ocelot will provide some details about what the smokestacks role in the plant was,[2][3] and later humorously ask if Snake's never seen a chimney in his life[7] and also talk Snake out of emulating Santa Claus.[8]
Mfinda Oilfield is coincidentally a very similar name to Mike Oldfield, the singer of Nuclear.
References[]
- ^ This is implied by a conversation between the Zero Risk Security truck driver for Traitor's Caravan and a Zero Risk Security soldier at Nova Braga Airport mentioning that the dropoff point was near the Munene River, and the final place they pass before going through the area was the Mfinda Oilfield.
- ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
Ocelot (radio): That's some thick smoke. They must be burning the impurities. - ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
Ocelot (radio): That smoke is loaded with sulfides. It would certainly explain the acid rain in the region. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Kazuhira Miller: Boss, we took another look into SANR, the owner of the oilfield. They were behind what happened...They restarted the facility all the while pretending they were the victims. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Kazuhira Miller: Company's essentially nonexistent...It's a shell corportation... Meaning someone is just using SANR's name from the shadows. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Kazuhira Miller: SANR... They planned to pollute the river, prevent the spread of infection... // Ocelot: But the oil flow was stopped. And downstream, the people of Masa village started using the water again... The PF soldiers deployed at the village were locals - spoke Kikongo. They were infected, the kids survived. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
Ocelot (radio): What, never seen a chimney before? - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
Ocelot (radio): Wait... you're not getting any ideas, are you? Don't go playing Santa Claus.