2007年VOA标准英语-Iraq Government Focusing on Rebuilding Oil Indu

By Jim Randle
Washington, D.C.
02 January 2007
 
watch Iraq Oil report

Iraq's Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi'ites are bickering¹ over how to distribute the nation's potentially vast oil revenue.  In the meantime, energy officials are trying to rebuild the battered² industry while saboteurs are busy attacking pipelines³ and other facilities. 

 
An Iraqi oil refinery⁴
Insurgents⁵ often attack Iraq's pipelines and other key oil facilities, leaving them in flames.

The damage is frustrating⁶ efforts to rebuild Iraq's crucial oil industry, which is the most important sector⁷ of the nation's economy.

Iraq currently produces around two and a half million barrels of oil a day, far below its potential. Iraq's Oil Minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, wants to change that. "Our current plan is to increase production of crude oil over the coming five years to between four and four-and-a-half million barrels per day."

 
Hussain al-Shahristani
Al-Shahristani says he hopes to quickly make deals with major foreign oil companies, and use their advanced technology to help Iraq reach its huge potential.

But former Iraqi Oil Minister Issam Al-Chalabi says the dangerous security situation has kept all but some small foreign companies out of the country.

"There is no way that any company, any proper company, an international oil company or national oil company or anybody with some sense in his mind would be willing to go into Iraq invest money and develop those services."

Al-Chalabi says major oil companies, like ExxonMobil or Shell, are also discouraged by uncertainties⁸ over Iraq's proposed laws governing their industry. The political situation is complicated by the uneven⁹ distribution of Iraq's oil.

The bulk of the petroleum¹⁰ is in the southern part of the country, mostly populated by Shi'ites.  Some Shi'ite leaders are pressing for autonomy for their region.  Another portion of the oil is in northern Iraq where many Kurds live.  The area already enjoys considerable autonomy from the central government. The center of the country is thought to contain much less oil and is home to the Sunni Arabs who ruled the nation under Saddam Hussein.

Each of the Iraqi factions¹¹ is bargaining hard for laws that favor their access to this crucial resource. Iraq's new constitution says the nation's oil belongs to all Iraqis, but the rival factions interpret the document in different ways. Kurds have already signed agreements with small foreign oil companies searching for new oil.

 
Massoud Barzani (file photo)
But Iraq's Oil Minister al-Shahristani says such contracts should be signed or approved by the central government. That prompted the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, to threaten to break away from the country. And prompted visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to try to smooth things over with Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani.

"As for the revenues of oil, stipulated¹² in the constitution, we are for a fair distribution of the oil revenues all over Iraq," said the president.

The Kurdish leader did not repeat his colleague's strong rhetoric¹³ in public.

Meantime, the Kurdistan regional legislature has been working on a new "Petroleum Law" while the central government has been working on a new "Hydrocarbon¹⁴ Law."

It is not clear if these different pieces of legislation will resolve the dispute between the central government and the Kurdistan regional government, or ease friction¹⁵ over oil between Sunni and Shi'ites in the south.

But an influential¹⁶ study of Iraq by leading U.S. experts [the Iraq Study Group] called an oil law guaranteeing equitable¹⁷ revenue distribution of revenues crucial to national reconciliation¹⁸.  And experts say clarifying the legal status of foreign oil companies will make it easier for Iraq to attract the foreign expertise¹⁹ and technology needed to rebuild the oil industry.

Iraq has opened some new facilities, such as a refinery in Najaf, with ceremony and heavy security. "God willing, this refinery could process 30,000 barrels a day," said an oil engineer at the refinery.

If political disputes are solved and security improved, many experts say Iraq could eventually produce about six million barrels of crude oil per day.

Former oil minister Al-Chalabi says current high oil prices mean a healthy oil industry could bring in $100-billion a year in revenue, enough to easily rebuild the oil sector -- and fund reconstruction²⁰ of much of the rest of the troubled nation.

1 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

3 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。

4 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。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

9 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

12 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

13 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

14 hydrocarbon   

n.烃，碳氢化合物

参考例句：

• During incomplete combustion some of the hydrocarbon fuel is cracked.在不完全的燃烧中，一些烃燃料裂解。
• The hydrocarbon must be an alkene.这个碳氢化合物必定是烯烃。

15 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

16 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

17 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

18 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

19 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

20 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。