2019年经济学人 欧洲天然气供应 (2)

 

The project now involves dozens of companies, including BP, an oil major, and Socar and TPAO, the state oil companies of Azerbaijan and Turkey respectively.

现在该项目涉及几十家公司，包括石油巨头BP以及Socar 和TPAO，两家分别为阿塞拜疆和土耳其的国有石油公司。

Despite the years of planning and complexity¹ of the project, its capacity, at 16bn cubic metres per year, is about half what European planners had hoped.

虽然规划多年且项目复杂，但其每年160亿立方米的产能约为欧洲规划者所期待的一半。

The SGC is set to meet just 2% of EU demand.

SGC仅能满足欧盟需求的2%。

At market prices, SGC gas is competitive in Turkey and south-east European countries but not in the more distant western European markets.

在市场价格上，SGC天然气在土耳其和欧洲东南部很具竞争力，但在更远的西欧市场则失去了竞争力。

Moreover, one of its developers is Lukoil, an oil firm backed by Russia.

此外，其开发商之一是卢克石油，一家由俄罗斯支持的石油公司。

In its current form the SGC therefore does little to curb² dependence³ on Russia. That is unlikely to change, for two reasons.

在其目前的形式中，SGC确实无法抑制对俄罗斯的依赖。这一点不可能改变，原因有两点。

First, in addition to NS2, Russia has devised its own plans to bring gas into southern Europe.

首先，除了NS2外，俄罗斯已计划将天然气运往南欧。

TurkStream, a pipeline⁴ to transport Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey, is scheduled to become operational this year.

TurkStream这条沿黑海将俄罗斯天然气运往土耳其的管道计划于今年运营。

Gazprom, Russia's energy giant (and NS2's sole shareholder), plans to build a second line to the EU and is negotiating its destination.

俄罗斯能源巨头Gazprom（也是NS2的唯一股东）计划建立通往欧盟的第二条线，线路终点还在协商中。

That would make the EU-backed SGC even less competitive.

这将使EU支持的SGC更不具竞争力。

Second, changes that would make the SGC more commercially viable⁵ are unlikely.

第二，变化使得SGC更不可能具备商业利益可行性。

Advocates of the project argue that they plan to double the volume of exports if more gas becomes available, notably⁶ from Turkmenistan.

该项目的支持者争辩称如果能够得到更多的天然气，尤其是来自土库曼斯坦的天然气，那么他们计划将出口量翻倍。

But the expansion would require new infrastructure⁷ and additional costs.

但是扩张需要新的设施和额外的成本。

A way of avoiding that would be to feed new gas from Turkmenistan into SGC through a swap⁸ deal involving transit⁹ through Iran.

避免这些需求的方法是通过交换协议（通过伊朗进行中转）从土库曼斯坦供送新的天然气到SGC

But renewed American sanctions on Iran preclude¹⁰ this option.

但是美国恢复对伊朗的制裁妨碍了这一选项。

They also hinder the development of rich gas resources in Iran, which could have otherwise been exported to the EU.

他们还阻碍了伊朗丰富天然气资源的开发，否则这些天然气可以出口给欧盟。

At least one energy giant appears to take seriously the idea that the SGC could expand.

至少有一位能源巨头似乎认真考虑过SGC扩张的问题。

But it will not reassure¹¹ the EU that this firm is none other than Gazprom, whose chief executive has said it would bid for access.

但这无法消除EU的疑虑—这家公司正是俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司（Gazprom），其CEO表示公司将参与竞标。

European rules require the SGC to open capacity expansion to the most cost-competitive supplier.

欧洲法规要求SGC对最有成本竞争力的供应商扩大生产力。

In that event, Gazprom's vast reserves and low costs would be hard to rival.

如果那样的话，则很难与Gazprom丰富的储量和低廉的成本竞争。

A project touted¹² as a way to diversify¹³ Europe's gas supply might end up providing an additional route for its current, unloved, supplier.

一个被吹捧为扩大欧洲天然气供应方法的项目，结果可能是为其目前失宠的供应商提供了额外的线路。

1 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

5 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

9 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

10 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

11 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

12 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

13 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。