VOA标准英语2010年-Cold Weather Driving Oil Prices Higher

Investors¹ are seeing new opportunities to make money on oil.  The price of crude oil rose to its highest level in 15 months on Wednesday amid speculation² that a weak dollar and cold weather across many parts of the world will boost energy demand.  But despite increasing demand in emerging markets, some say higher inventories³ and recessionary pullbacks in the West could drive prices lower. 

Severe winter weather across parts of Europe, Asia and the United States helped push the price of oil above $83 a barrel on Wednesday, before falling below that mark again on Thursday. 

In the U.S., a 20 percent increase in demand for heating oil, along with higher gasoline prices had some investors speculating about a return to record highs.

With demand continuing to rise in emerging economies such as China and India, energy trader Ray Carbone says oil futures⁴ are a good bet.

"To me, we could be at triple digits⁵ in the not long period of time and of course we know that we can go well into the triple digits if the right confluence⁶ of events comes about," said Ray Carbone.

But after 10 days of consecutive⁷ gains, some investors may be having second thoughts.  On Thursday, oil futures fell below $83 a barrel amid concerns about higher than expected surpluses and a strengthening U.S. dollar.
 
Energy analyst⁸ Mike Fitzpatrick says a sluggish⁹ recovery in the U.S. could also drive prices lower.

"I think that the fundamentals aren't there," said Mike Fitzpatrick. "I mean there is plenty of supply. Demand in the industrial West remains¹⁰ severely¹¹ restricted because of the recession."

Oil prices topped out at $145 a barrel in 2008, driven largely by speculators hedging their bets on a weak U.S. dollar.  Analysts¹² don't expect prices to reach similar levels anytime soon but they say oil markets could remain a hot spot for investors - if energy demand increases as the U.S. economy gradually starts to improve.

1 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

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 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。

4 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

5 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

7 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

8 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。

9 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。