VOA常速英语2015--石油价格下跌对德州造成的复合影响

 

Oil Price Drop Has Mixed Effects on Texas 石油价格下跌对德州造成的复合影响

HOUSTON, TEXAS—

Oil rig workers, known as roughnecks, face unemployment as oil prices fall, but the impact is greater in regions like Alaska and North Dakota, where production costs are higher than they are in the Eagle Ford¹ shale² area of south-central Texas.

石油钻塔工人，又名钻工，由于石油价格下降他们经常面临失业,但对阿拉斯加和北达科他州地区则影响更大,相比德克萨斯州中南部伊戈尔福特页岩地区那里的生产成本要更高。

Business has even picked up at Rooster Safety in Pleasanton, Texas, where roughnecks buy gloves, helmets and protective gear.

甚至德克萨斯州商业也因此受到影响,因为石油钻塔工人们经常购买手套,头盔及防护装备。

Store owner James Strange said he'd been getting orders from company purchasing agents who were content with paying more to established suppliers when oil prices were high.

店主詹姆斯·斯特林奇表示他过去一直从公司采购代理人处接到商品订单，因为当油价高的时候人们愿意购买很多商品同供应商们搞好关系。

“Now that oil prices are dropping and people want to watch their budgets, they are willing to take an extra 30 minutes to create an account with us so that they can start purchasing and save some money,” he said.

“现在油价下降,人们开始关注预算,他们更愿意花额外的30分钟同我们开个帐户,这样他们就可以开始采购并且能节省开支。”

By keeping costs low, some projects in south-central Texas can remain profitable as long as the price of oil stays above $40 a barrel.

通过维持低成本,只要油价维持在每桶40美元德州中南部的一些项目仍旧能够盈利。

Economist³ Adam Perdue at the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting, who studies the impact of the slowdown on Texas, said that “exploration and production budgets are being cut anywhere from 10 to 50 percent, with most of them being about 30 percent.”

休斯顿大学区域预测机构经济学家亚当·珀杜研究德州经济放缓所造成的影响,“勘探和生产预算被削减10到50%,其中大部分是30%左右。”

He said Houston's economy, which experienced 5 percent growth in recent years, would be affected⁴ by the lower spending.

他表示近些年经历5%增长的休斯敦经济将会受到降低开支的影响。

“We are predicting there will be 20,000 fewer jobs than there would have been otherwise," Perdue said. "So, we are still predicting growth in the Houston area. It is just going to slow down to a more reasonable rate of just under 2 percent.”

“我们预测相比以往将会减少20000个工作机会。因此我们仍然预测休斯顿地区呈现增长趋势。只是下跌至略低于2%更合理的程度。”

The slowdown will also affect companies that make pipes and fittings for oil exploration and production, as well as trucking companies that supply sand and chemicals for hydraulic⁵ fracturing and many other small businesses that serve the energy industry.

油价下跌也会影响用于石油勘探及生产制造管道及配件的公司，还有为水力压裂技术供应砂土及化学物质的货运公司及其他服务于能源产业的许多小型企业。

But low oil prices are a stimulus⁶ to chemical producers that use hydrocarbons⁷ to make everything from solvents⁸ to fertilizer and plastics. Perdue said new chemical plant construction near Houston would keep many skilled workers employed.

但是低油价对于使用碳氢化合物制造溶剂、肥料及塑料的化学生产商们也是一种刺激。珀杜表示休斯顿附近新建设的化工厂会雇佣很多熟练工人。

“A lot of these roughnecks that are going to lose their jobs out there in the field are going to be able to come home and get a welding job or a construction job,” he said.

“很多在这一领域经常失去工作的人回到家乡后能够找到一份和焊接及建设相关的工作。”

Perdue said oil company analysts⁹ see prices rising again in six months or so as the market glut¹⁰ from expanded production decreases.

亚当·珀杜称石油公司分析师们认为价格会在6个月左右市场因为产量扩大供过于求后再次上升。

But, he said, if those assumptions are wrong and oil prices continue to fall, the impact on Houston and Texas in general will be much worse.

但他表示如果这些假设有误而且石油价格继续下跌,那么对德州和休斯顿的影响将会更糟。

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 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。

5 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 hydrocarbons   

n.碳氢化合物，烃( hydrocarbon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hydrocarbons (HC), like carbon monoxide, represent unburned and wasted fuel. 碳氢化合物(HC)像一氧化碳一样，为未燃尽的和被浪费掉的燃料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• With this restricted frequency range it is not applicable to hydrocarbons. 这个较紧缩的频率范围不适用于烃类。 来自辞典例句

8 solvents   

溶解的，溶剂

参考例句：

• It is resistant to borohydride reduction in alcoholic solvents. 在醇溶剂中，它不能被硼氢化物还原。
• Strains require special treatments for removal such as spotting with organic solvents. 要清除这些着色物质，需要特殊处理，例如：滴加有机溶剂。

9 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。

10 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。