VOA慢速英语2014 石油价格下跌对各国造成不同影响

Falling Oil Prices Affect Nations Differently 石油价格下跌对各国造成不同影响

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

美国之音慢速学英语节目，这里是经济报道。

World oil prices have dropped by about 30 percent since June. That has helped many economies around the world. When people spend less on fuel, they can spend more on other goods. But lower oil prices also mean reduced profits for national oil companies. Privately-owned oil producers and companies that provide services to the oil industry are also affected 1.

自6月份以来，世界原油价格下降了大约30%。这帮助了世界上许多经济体。当人们在燃料方面的花费减少时，他们可以增加在其他商品上的支出。但是石油价格下降也意味着国家石油公司收益减少。为石油行业提供服务的私营石油生产商和公司也受到了影响。

Increased American oil production is one reason for the drop in world oil prices. Hydraulic 2 fracturing technology developed in the U.S. has made that increase possible. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process of pumping water and chemicals into the ground to force out natural gas and oil. It is often used to recover these fossil fuels from rock called shale 3.

美国石油产量增加是世界石油价格下跌的其中一个原因。美国开发的水力压裂技术使得石油产量增加。水力压裂技术是指向地下泵入水和化学物质，迫使天然气和石油流出。这种技术通常用于从页岩中提取石化燃料。

Jim Krane is an energy expert at the James Baker 4 Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. He says oil produced from shale has changed the market.

Jim Krane是赖斯大学詹姆斯·贝克公共政策研究所的专家。他表示，页岩中出产的石油改变了市场。

“The shale production that is entering the market and pushing other sources of supply that used to come to the U.S. away from the U.S. and they are trying to find markets for that.”

“页岩出产的石油正在进入市场，迫使以前来到美国的其他燃料供应来源离开美国，他们正在试图寻找市场。”

Mr. Krane says slowing economies in China and Europe have also reduced the demand for oil.

Krane表示，中国和欧洲经济发展速度放缓也减少了对石油的需求量。

In the past, the Organization of Petroleum 5 Exporting Countries would react to decreasing demand by cutting production. The twelve member states often cooperate to influence oil prices around the world. However, Jim Krane says members want to defend their share of the market and are unwilling 6 to make production cuts.

过去，石油输出国组织会通过减少产量来回应需求的减少。12个成员国经常合作来影响全球石油价格。然而，Jim Krane表示，成员国也想保卫自己的市场份额，不愿意减少产量。

“They are willing to see prices drop for a little while to see if they could sweat some of these higher-cost producers out of the market.”

“他们愿意看到价格稍微下降一点，看看是否能将一些生产成本较高的生产商挤出市场。”

However, this could affect small oil producing companies in the U.S. These companies feel the effects of falling prices more sharply on their profit margin 7.

然而，这会影响美国的小型石油生产公司。价格下降给这些公司带来的边际收益影响更加严重。

“If you are a small company thinking about investing in putting in some new oil production, well, you might think twice if prices are down at $75 (a barrel)...”

“如果你是一家小公司，正在考虑投资来提高产量，然而，如果价格下降到每桶75美元，你就会三思。”

U.S. companies are not alone in feeling pressure from falling prices. Oil makes up 83 percent of Nigeria’s exports and 70 percent of the nation’s economy.

受到价格下跌压力的不仅仅是美国的公司。石油占据尼日利亚出口量的83%，占据国民经济的70%。

Finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently announced measures the government would take to increase income. These include new taxes on costly 8 goods and a six percent cut in government spending.

财政部长Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala最近宣布了政府增加收入的措施，包括对奢侈品征税和政府支出削减6%。

India is increasingly dependent on oil imports. Lower oil prices have helped ease high inflation, which reached 10 percent last year.  The government also has moved to cut back fuel price supports, or subsidies 9. The move has not affected the price people pay for fuel because of the sharp decrease in oil prices.

印度对石油进口的依赖越来越大。石油价格下跌帮助缓解了高通胀率，去年的通胀率高达10%。政府还采取措施减少了燃料价格支持或补助。由于油价大幅下跌，此举并未影响人们购买燃料的价格。

In places like Houston, Texas, the oil industry is a major employer and economic driver.  Economist Patrick Jankowski says lower oil prices have a clear dollar cost.

在得克萨斯的休斯顿等地，石油行业是最主要的雇主和经济推动者。经济学家Patrick Jankowski表示，较低的石油价格造成了显著的经济损失。

“If you look at the production that we get in the state of Texas, we are producing 4.5 million more barrels a month than we were doing this time last year.  Yet the value of our production in Texas has dropped by over a billion dollars a month.”

“如果你看一下得克萨斯州的产量，我们每月的石油产量比去年同期增加了450万桶。然而得克萨斯州产品的总价值每月却减少了超过10亿美元。”

However, Mr. Jankowski believes the over-supply will slowly disappear.

然而，Jankowski先生表示，供应过剩的情况将会缓慢消失。

“By 2016, we will probably see production drop again, definitely by 2017.  By then we will see prices go back up again.”

“到2016年，我们可能会再次发现石油产量下降，而到2017年石油产量肯定会下降。到那时，我们肯定会再次看到石油价格回升。”

He says decreasing prices may make energy company leaders nervous, but most are prepared for it.

他表示，价格下跌或许会导致能源公司领导人有点紧张，但是大部分人已经为此做好了准备。

And that’s the Economics Report for VOA Learning English. I’m Mario Ritter.

以上就是今天的美国之音慢速学英语经济报道。我是Mario Ritter。

Words in This Story

cooperate - v. to act or work together

defend – v. to protect, to keep intact

margin – n. the difference between the cost of buying or making something and the price at which it is sold

subsidies – n. money usually paid by a government to producers of a product to keep the price of the product low; price supports