经济学人455:哈萨克斯坦的石油企业

 　　Oil firms in Kazakhstan

　　哈萨克斯坦的石油企业

　　Cash all gone

　　钱全没了

　　One of the world's biggest oil projects has become a fiasco

　　世界上最大的石油项目之一惨败

　　WHEN it was discovered in 2000, the Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan's waters in the northern Caspian Sea was the world's biggest oil find in three decades. By now it was supposed to be pumping out 1.2m barrels a day (mbd), enough to meet Spain's entire consumption. But the project, whose name sounds unfortunately like “cash all gone”, went spectacularly awry¹. A year ago, when the first trickle² of crude briefly³ flowed, it was already eight years behind schedule. Having cost 43 billion, it was 30 billion over budget. And production lasted only a few weeks before leaks of poisonous gas forced its suspension. Earlier this month a government minister admitted it would not restart until at least 2016.

　　当位于里海北部哈萨克斯坦水域的卡沙干油田在2000年被发现时，它成为了世界上三十年来发现的最大的油田。到目前它每天应该能产出120万桶,足以满足西班牙的整体消费量。但这个项目的名字听起来很不幸，就像“钱全没了”一样,出现重大故障了。一年前,当它出油时,已经落后于预定计划八年了。耗资430亿美元,超过了预算300亿美元。生产只持续了几个星期，它就因有毒气体泄漏被迫中止。本月早些时候,一位政府部长承认至少到2016年后油田才会重启。

　　Undeterred by the Kashagan fiasco, this week the government said it would approve a plan to expand the onshore Tengiz oilfield, another huge budget-buster. Tengiz was first expected to cost 23 billion but the government said this week that the bill had risen to 40 billion.

　　并未被卡沙干的惨败而有所动摇,本周政府表示,它将批准一项计划,扩大陆上田吉兹油田,这是另一个巨大的花钱能手。田吉兹油田初始预估会花费230亿美元,但政府本周表示,该账单已升至400亿美元。

　　哈萨克斯坦的石油企业.jpg

　　Each of the two oilfields is owned by a different consortium of foreign firms and the state oil company, KazMunaiGaz. In Kashagan's case they include Exxon, Shell, Total and ENI. In part the project's setbacks are due to unexpected technical problems. Corrosive⁴ and poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas, pumped up from the seabed along with the oil, has eaten through pipes bringing it onshore. It may cost another 5 billion to fix the problem. But insiders say privately⁵ that with so many companies involved, the project has lacked clear leadership and suffered from government meddling⁶.'

　　两个油田分别由不同的外国公司所组成的财团以及国有石油公司—哈萨克国家石油天然气公司控制,。卡沙干油田涉及到埃克森美孚、壳牌、道达尔和埃尼。部分项目的挫折是由意想不到的技术问题造成的。腐蚀性和有毒的硫化氢气体,随着石油从海床被抽上来时,会腐蚀输送石油上岸的管道。这可能花费50亿美元来解决这个问题。但业内人士私下表示,有这么多公司参与其中,该项目一直缺乏明确的领导并且受到政府干预。

　　Investors⁷ of all kinds worry about “the declining predictability of Kazakhstan's regulatory and legal environment”, says Mariyam Zhumadil of Halyk Finance, an investment bank in the commercial capital, Almaty. In 2010 the government filed a 1.2 billion tax claim against the consortium that operates another field, Karachaganak, while making noises about breaches⁸ of environmental rules, not long after expressing an interest in buying a stake in the field. Later the consortium gave it 10% in return for it agreeing to expand the field.

　　各类投资者担心“哈萨克斯坦监管和法律环境的可预测性的不断下降”,纳鲁克金融公司的Mariyam Zhumadil这样说道，这家公司是设立在商业中心阿拉木图的一家投资银行。2010年,政府向运作另一个油田项目——Karachaganak的外国财团提出12亿美元的税收索赔,并鼓噪其违反了环保规定,但是不久之后又表达了入股的意愿。后来财团给它以10%的股份来换取政府对其扩大领域的批准。

　　Likewise, at Kashagan, environmental officials have fined the field's operators 737m for burning off the poisonous gas, which the consortium argues was an emergency measure. Ms Zhumadil reckons the fine is a “tool for future negotiations⁹, perhaps to strengthen the national oil company's presence in the project.” This may not be the best way to encourage foreign firms to pump in the tens of billions of dollars more that are still needed to develop Kazakhstan's oilfields.

　　同样的，在卡沙干油田，环境官员已经因燃烧有毒气体处罚了该处油田运营商7.37亿美元，但是该财团争辩称燃烧有毒气体是一项紧急处理措施。Zhumadil女士推断，这个罚金是一个“日后谈判的工具，可能会强化国有石油公司在这个项目上的存在感”。这可能不是鼓励外国企业投资仍需要数百亿美元的卡沙干油田的最好办法。

1 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

2 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

3 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。

4 corrosive   

adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的

参考例句：

• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 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

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。