美国国家公共电台 NPR--Some lawmakers push back on the oil cartel OPEC with a bill they called NOPEC

Some lawmakers push back on the oil cartel OPEC with a bill they called NOPEC

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Ellen Wald of the Atlantic Council about bipartisan legislation that passed a Senate panel in May that would allow the U.S. to sue nations OPEC+ nations for price fixing.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The White House and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle² are threatening to punish OPEC, plus member nations, over their decision to dramatically cut oil production. Lawmakers say a drop in oil supply would again drive gas prices up in the U.S. To put pressure on Saudi Arabia in particular, members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, want to revive legislation called NOPEC, the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act. If the bill became law, it would allow the Justice Department to sue Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations for illegal price fixing. For more, we're joined by Ellen Wald. She's a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of the book "Saudi, Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom's Pursuit Of Profit And Power." Good morning. Thanks for being on the program.

ELLEN WALD: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

FADEL: So let's say this were to pass, what would the ability to sue OPEC nations mean for the U.S. and U.S. consumers?

WALD: Essentially³, it would mean that the attorney general could sue countries that produce oil and are members of OPEC. So they could be sued for price fixing, which is technically⁴ illegal in the United States. The issue that we're talking about for American consumers is that these countries could retaliate⁵ against American interests, first of all, but it could also hurt the overall oil supply. We could see a reduction in global oil supply as a result. We could have countries not wanting to sell to the U.S., which is an important part of our global oil supply. We could also see these countries retaliate against U.S. interests in their countries, including nationalizing American oil interests in those countries.

FADEL: So you described a lot of different ways that there could be retaliation⁶ here, but there's a lot of support and anger over what's happened with oil supply and an assumption that Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, is backing Russia with this move. Is it possible that Saudi is just looking at their own bottom line, that they needed to prop⁷ up the price of oil for their own economic reasons?

WALD: I think Saudi Arabia sees what's going on in the global oil market and is very concerned about the possibility of a global recession and that that could cause a major drop in oil prices like we saw in 2008. They're looking to head this off. But when you look at the actual amount of barrels that are going to come off the market from this cut, we're talking about a lot less than 2 million barrels a day because OPEC isn't producing up to its quotas⁸. So this is a cut of the quotas that OPEC has, but most countries aren't even producing that much. So we're talking maybe 300 million barrels a day to 600 million - I mean, I'm sorry - 600,000 barrels a day, which is a lot less than they said.

FADEL: Now, you mentioned that legislation like NOPEC might risk some retaliation. How would it affect the U.S.-Saudi relationship?

WALD: I think it would become very difficult. The issue is if this lawsuit⁹ actually goes through the legal system, what kind of things could we see happen down the line? So would the United States try to seize Saudi asset in the United States in order to collect? And that could lead to some very difficult issues between the United States and Saudi Arabia, particularly for Americans in Saudi Arabia, Americans doing business in Saudi Arabia but also Saudis who do business in the U.S. And that includes the Aramco refinery¹⁰ in the United States, which is the largest refinery in the U.S., the Motiva refinery in Texas.

FADEL: And bottom line, would legislation like NOPEC help at the gas pump, which is what a lot of Americans care about?

WALD: I don't think it would help at the gas pump at all. We're seeing a lot of issues at the gas pump that are maybe somewhat related to OPEC but are not entirely¹¹ related to OPEC. We've got a lot of issues in the United States. We don't have as large of refining capacity as we had. And if we start to sue these other countries that have sovereign immunity¹², then we're probably actually going to see gas prices go up because these countries are going to be reluctant to do business with the United States out of the fear that their assets could just be taken from them as a result of these lawsuits¹³.

FADEL: Ellen Wald is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

WALD: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

6 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

8 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

10 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

13 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句