2020年经济学人 大宗商品--买方注意(1)

 

Early in march the oil market's central banker seemed to go berserk.

三月初，石油市场的中央银行家们似乎暴跳如雷

Saudi Arabia, the most powerful member of the Organisation¹ of the Petroleum² Exporting Countries (OPEC),

作为石油输出国组织（OPEC）最强大的成员国

has long adjusted its supply to help stabilise the price of crude. Russia had teamed up with OPEC since 2016,

沙特阿拉伯长期以来一直在调整其石油供应，以帮助稳定原油价格。自2016年以来，俄罗斯一直与OPEC合作，

but as covid-19 drove demand relentlessly³ down, it refused OPEC's plea to cut production.

但由于covid-19无情地压低了需求，它拒绝了欧佩克减产的请求。

Saudi Arabia retaliated⁴, declaring its intent to flood global markets.

沙特阿拉伯进行了报复，宣称其意图淹没全球市场。

The price of Brent crude halved⁵ between March 5th and 18th, to $25 a barrel.

3月5日到18日之间，布伦特原油价格下跌了一半，至每桶25美元。

America is stepping in. On March 19th its Department of Energy said

美国介入。3月19日，美国能源部表示

it would buy 77m barrels of American crude to store in its strategic stockpile.

它将购买7700万桶美国原油储存在其战略储备中。

Ryan Sitton, a Texas oil regulator, is mulling restrictions⁶ on his state's output, which accounts for 41% of America's total.

德州石油监管官员Ryan Sitton正在考虑对占美国总产量41%的德州石油产量进行限制。

"The world is in an extraordinary time," he says. "We need to consider extraordinary solutions."

“世界正处在一个非凡的时代”，他称。“我们需要考虑非凡的解决方法。”

News on March 23rd that President Donald Trump⁷ had appointed an energy envoy⁸ to Saudi Arabia

3月23日，唐纳德·特朗普总统已经任命了一位能源特使前往沙特阿拉伯的消息

raised hopes that America might broker⁹ a truce¹⁰ between the kingdom and Russia.

燃起了美国可能促成沙特和俄罗斯停战的希望。

America is not a newcomer to oil-market meddling¹¹.

美国并不是石油市场干预的新手。

The formation of OPEC was inspired in part by the Texas Railroad Commission (on which Mr Sitton now serves).

OPEC的形成部分是受到德克萨斯铁路委员会的启发（Sitton现在在该委员会任职）。

In the 1930s, when the price of oil wallowed below $1 a barrel, troopers fanned across Texas to enforce the commission's production limits.

20世纪30年代，当石油价格跌至每桶1美元以下时，德州各地的巡警展开行动，强制执行委员会的限产令。

As America's oil imports rose, attention shifted to securing supply.

随着美国石油进口的增加，人们的注意力转向了保障供应。

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo¹².

战略石油储备建立于1975年，阿拉伯石油禁运之后。

Now that shale¹³ has transformed America into the world's biggest oil producer,

现在页岩已经将美国变成了世界上最大的石油生产国，

the country has renewed interest in propping¹⁴ up the price of crude.

该国重新燃起了支撑原油价格的兴趣。

Mr Sitton maintains that production cuts may be necessary to ensure that America's shale industry survives covid-19.

Sitton坚持认为，为了确保美国页岩产业能在covid-19中存活下来，减产可能是必要的。

But America will find OPEC 's mantle¹⁵ an awkward fit.

但是美国将会发现OPEC的职责是一个尴尬的搭配。

The vast salt caverns¹⁶ along America's Gulf¹⁷ coast that contain the strategic reserve are already about 90% full,

美国墨西哥湾沿岸包含战略储备的巨大盐穴已经满约90%，

so they cannot store enough excess supply. Texan regulators have not tried to curb¹⁸ output for decades.

因此，它们无法储存足够的过剩供应。几十年来，德州的监管机构都没有想要限制产量。

Any attempt would surely meet legal and practical hurdles¹⁹.

任何尝试肯定都会遇到法律和实际的障碍。 

1 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

2 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

3 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

4 retaliated   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When he once teased her for her inexperience, she retaliated. 有一次，他讥讽她没有经验，她便反唇相讥。 来自辞典例句
• The terrorists retaliated by killing three policemen. 恐怖分子以杀死三名警察相报复。 来自辞典例句

5 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

10 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

11 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

12 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

13 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

14 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

15 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

16 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

17 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

18 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。

19 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句