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西方制裁阴影笼罩俄石油大会

Russia’s economy runs on oil and gas, but with Russia’s economy on the edge of recession, a new threat has emerged: possible sanctions against energy technology sales from the West.

俄罗斯的经济依赖于石油和天然气。但是，随着俄罗斯经济走到衰退的边缘，一个新的威胁已经出现了：俄罗斯可能在引进西方能源科技方面受到制裁。

The World Petroleum¹ Congress was supposed to bring together Russia, the world’s largest energy producer, and the United States, the world’s largest producer of cutting-edge energy technology.

世界石油大会本应该使俄罗斯这个最大能源生产国同美国这个最大尖端能源科技生产国坐在一起。

But oil expert Pat Szymczak says the United States was practically a no-show.

但是，石油专家西姆萨科表示，与会的美国公司却寥寥无几。

“There are very few American companies here," Szymczak said. "Of the 3,000 delegates, I noticed only 250 that really appeared to be coming from the United States.”

 “会上的美国公司非常少。在3000名与会者中，我注意到只有250人很像是来自美国。”

Clouding the party were sanctions against Russia for its role in fueling the separatist war in southeastern Ukraine.

俄罗斯由于对乌克兰东南部分离主义分子的支持而受到了制裁。这也使本次大会蒙上了一层阴影。

After targeting powerful Russians with sanctions, European Union leaders are to meet Thursday in Brussels to discuss escalating² sanctions to companies or to sectors³ such as energy technology.  It is unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin’s qualified⁴ support for Ukraine’s new cease-fire will blunt the momentum⁵ for sanctions.

欧盟各国领导人稍早前对强大的俄罗斯实施了多项制裁。星期四，他们将在布鲁塞尔举行会谈，商讨对一些公司或者能源科技等领域实施更严厉的制裁。

Last week, with Russian troops massing again at Ukraine’s border, U.S. Treasury⁶ Secretary Jacob Lew warned in Berlin that Russia has what he called "a fundamental choice to make.”

随着俄罗斯军队再次在乌克兰边界集结，美国财政部长雅各布·卢上周在柏林警告说，俄罗斯需要做出一个“关键的抉择”。

"If Russia is unwilling⁷ to reverse the course, the United States and the international community are prepared to impose additional cost," Lew said.

他说: “如果俄罗斯不愿意改变现在的做法，那么美国和国际社会准备实行进一步制裁。”

In Moscow, Western energy executives with big Russia investments tried to project a business as usual image.  Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, and Bob Dudley, CEO of BP spoke⁸ on panels at the meeting.

在莫斯科，在俄罗斯有巨额投资的西方能源公司的高管们试图营造一种生意照常的印象。

But in the halls, there was unease.

但是在大厅里，气氛却十分凝重。

“I heard a lot of questions about sanctions from our customers," said Vitaly Cho, who works in Russia for Baker⁹ Hughes, the Houston-based international oilfield service company. "They are worried. Baker Hughes is a technology provider. We have high-tech¹⁰, and our customers need these technologies to develop their fields.”

贝克休斯是总部在休斯敦的一家国际油田服务公司。维塔利·车（音译，Vitaly Cho）是这家公司在俄罗斯的一名雇员。她说: “我从我们的客户那里听到许多关于制裁的询问。他们很担心。贝克休斯是一家提供科技的公司。我们有很尖端的技术，而且我们的客户也需要这些技术来开发他们的油田。

Russia needs American and European drilling and platform technology to unlock, what Bloomberg reports, is an estimated $8 trillion worth of oil.

俄罗斯需要美国和欧洲的钻井平台技术来开采大约价值8万亿美元的石油。

Wilhelm Sicking, a German marketer for PennWell, the Oklahoma group of energy publications, believes business will come back.

不过，为俄克拉荷马州的能源刊物出版公司鹏威（PennWell）公司做营销的德国人威廉·西津（Wilhelm Sicking） 认为，生意早晚会回来的。

“The Western companies need to sell their technology to the Russians, and the Russians need the technology," Sicking said. "This will not last long.”

 “西方的公司需要向俄罗斯销售它们的技术，而且俄罗斯也需要这些技术。制裁不会持续太久。”

Szymczak says uncertainty¹¹ over sanctions is causing many American companies to cut investments in Russia.

帕特·希姆恰克（Pat Szymczak）说，对俄制裁的不确定性使许多美国公司减少了在俄罗斯的投资。

“It is shooting ourselves in the foot ... because, if we do not sell to the Russians, somebody else will sell to the Russians,” he said.

 “这是自残行为，如果我们不向俄罗斯出售技术，总有其他人会这么做的。”

Coming days will tell if Russia’s support for the cease-fire is enough for Western powers to put sanctions on the shelf.

的确，西方的对俄制裁是热点话题，但是却被大多数美国国会议员所回避。