Gas prices are expected to go higher after the U.S. bans Russian oil imports

Gas prices are expected to go higher after the U.S. bans Russian oil imports

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks to Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst² at Oil Price Information Service, about the implications of the U.S. ban on Russian oil and gas.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

How can the United States make sure that an oil ban hurts Russia more than it hurts the United States? President Biden yesterday targeted Russia's most important export.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine.

INSKEEP: The announcement affected³ oil markets, where prices were already rising, and they have exceeded $120 per barrel. Gas prices are also up well over $4 per gallon on average, and the people paying include Orlando Rojas (ph) from Los Angeles.

ORLANDO ROJAS: It's not doable, man. A hundred bucks⁴ every two, three days? It adds up - $400 a month. It's not fair. It's really not fair. And they're not giving us any option.

INSKEEP: Our next guest is Denton Cinquegrana, who is chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, or OPIS, which provides independent information to the oil industry. Welcome.

DENTON CINQUEGRANA: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: How significant is it that the United States alone is making this move?

CINQUEGRANA: I think it's really more symbolic⁵ than anything. You know, one of the things that's really happened over the past couple weeks is the industry itself almost put a ban - basically, put a ban on Russian crude oil in that a bank would not issue a line of credit for a company that may want to buy one. Shipping⁶ companies, the boat owners, the ship owners, wouldn't go into the Black Sea to load crude oil because of the insurance premiums⁷ that are involved 'cause it's considered a war zone. So, you know, it was almost a de facto ban before the president's announcement yesterday, but the president's announcement yesterday morning just makes it official.

INSKEEP: Is this enough of a change, then, to hurt Russia?

CINQUEGRANA: It probably is because, you know, they're still going to send some crude oil to China through various pipelines⁸ where they're connected, India may buy some a little bit here and there, but for the most part, it does deal another blow to the Putin administration. And also, you know - I know European - the continent of Europe will continue to bring some crude oil in, but they're going to find it difficult as well when ships will not bring it to the various ports throughout the world.

INSKEEP: Mr. Cinquegrana, can you help me with something? I've been through a lot of crises where oil prices went up, and when gas prices also soar, as they now are soaring, I personally have my doubts because I presume the gas that I bought this week is oil that was drilled somewhere many, many months ago and sold at much cheaper prices months ago. So why should my gas price already be going up so much so soon?

CINQUEGRANA: Granted, oil transacts⁹ multiple times before it meets its final destination, and the same with gasoline. So as you get downstream throughout the terminal, the price becomes a lot more real time than it did when something was, you know, produced - you know, the oil that came out of the ground several weeks and perhaps even months ago, maybe it was taken out of storage, for example. But the way gasoline works, it's a lot more real time, and inventories¹⁰ work on a just-in-time basis. So that's the way the gasoline industry has worked for quite some time. So - but I do...

INSKEEP: So you don't think that oil companies are profiteering here?

CINQUEGRANA: I think, obviously, they're profiting because of the high price right now, but the guy you're buying your gasoline from on the corner in your - at your local station, he's certainly not. He's selling gasoline at a very slim margin¹¹ right now. And those margins¹² are slim to begin with. But in some cases throughout the country, based on some of the data we're seeing, is they're selling gasoline at a loss.

INSKEEP: Thank you for that. Let's ask about replacing this oil from Russia. U.S. officials have been reaching out to Saudi Arabia. They've been reaching out to Venezuelan officials in some way that's a little bit unclear, which is prompting a lot of pushback, especially from Republicans in Congress who are saying, why reach out to Venezuela? Does it make any sense to reach out to Venezuela for their oil? Now, based on the statements of Biden administration officials, it's not clear to me they really are reaching out for Venezuelan oil. But would it make any sense to do that?

CINQUEGRANA: I guess at this point, you know, with - you know, there's an all-hands-on-deck approach. And I'm not going to get into the politics and the geopolitics of that particular piece. But, you know, what you need is a sort of a replacement¹³ crude. Not all crude oils are the same, essentially¹⁴. So you have different qualities. And refineries¹⁵ in the U.S. have invested billions and billions of dollars over the last, you know, 20 or so years to be able to bring in heavy, sour, just cruddy crude to be able to run at their refineries and turn into usable products - gasoline, diesel¹⁶, jet fuel, et cetera - and to take advantage of the difference between light sweet crude and heavy sour crude. A lot of that crude - that comes from Russia. And some of the, you know, kind of refinery¹⁷ feedstocks, if you will, to refer to them, is also this heavy, sludgy stuff that, you know, refineries there cannot turn into anything usable, but U.S. refineries can.

So it's more about replacing that. Canada would be a good start, actually. And even some very little bit of domestic production and even Mexico. So there's other options out there. It's - but, you know, it's a challenge to replace this at the snap of a finger.

INSKEEP: Well, let's just very briefly¹⁸ follow up on that. Can the United States make up the difference on its own? Because that's another political talking point right now.

CINQUEGRANA: Well, when you consider the fact that - you know, if Russia was completely cut off from the world markets, that's about 3 to 4 million barrels a day. I think U.S. production could go up. I don't - I'm not quite sure it could go up that much. And, you know, it takes time. The drillers in West Texas, they need some time to bring oil to the market. I like to use the, you know, seven and seven and not the cocktail¹⁹ - but on-land drilling production takes about seven months from start to finish, and then deep water - Gulf²⁰ of Mexico, think - seven years to bring that oil to market.

INSKEEP: Wow.

CINQUEGRANA: So there's that time lapse²¹. But you also have the fact that, like everything else in this country right now, there's labor²² shortages.

INSKEEP: And things take time. Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service. Thanks very much for your insights.

CINQUEGRANA: Sure.

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 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

9 transacts   

v.办理（业务等）( transact的第三人称单数 )；交易，谈判

参考例句：

• He transacts business with a large number of stores. 他与很多商店进行交易。 来自辞典例句
• He transacts business with stores all over the country. 他与全国各地的商店做交易。 来自互联网

10 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

13 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

14 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。

15 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

16 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

17 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。

18 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

19 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

20 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。

21 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

22 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。