ECONOMICS REPORT - Why Oil Continues Its Climb
Thu, 8 May 2008
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
经济报道—为何石油价格持续攀升
2008年5月8日
这是VOA特别英语的经济报道。
The price of oil has risen to more than one hundred twenty dollars a barrel. Some experts say the most recent price increase is only the beginning. Experts at the investment bank Goldman Sachs have predicted that oil could reach two hundred dollars a barrel.
石油价格已经上升到每桶120美元以上。一些专家说，最近的油价上升仅仅是开始而已。投资银行高盛的专家预测，油价可达到每桶200美元。
Unrest in oil producing countries has been partly to blame. Last weekend, a rebel group in Nigeria said it attacked an oil center in Bayelsa state. Nigeria is the eighth biggest oil exporter in the world.
石油生产国的动荡是部分原因。上周末，尼日利亚一反叛组织说其袭击了巴耶尔萨州的一个石油中心。尼日利亚是世界第八大石油输出国。
Also, Iraq is slowly rebuilding its oil production ability. Iraq's industry minister says the country's oil production is currently at about two million barrels of oil a day. He says that could increase to five million barrels of oil a day in two to three years depending on how much foreign help Iraq receives.
另外，伊拉克正在缓慢地重建其石油生产能力。伊拉克工业部长说，伊拉克石油生产量目前大约为每天200万桶石油。他说，在2-3年后，取决于伊拉克获得的国外援助多寡，可增产至每天500万桶石油。
The Venezuelan government's efforts to control its oil industry have increased tensions with foreign oil producers. And Russia, the world's second largest exporter, has also sought to increase government control of its energy resources. Nationalization of oil resources often forces out foreign investment that would normally seek to increase supplies.
委内瑞拉政府控制其石油产业的工作加大了其与外国石油生产国之间的紧张。另外，俄罗斯，世界第二大石油输出国，也寻求增加政府对其能源的控制。石油资源的国有化通常会逐出国外投资，因为国外投资通常追求增产(石油)。
Another cause of high oil prices is the weak American dollar. Oil is traded in dollars, so a less valuable dollar buys less oil. But, experts have noted that the weak dollar alone cannot explain the increase of about eighty-five percent in the price of oil over the last year.
高油价的另一个原因是弱势美元。石油以美元进行交易，因此更低值美元购买更少石油。但是，专家指出，仅仅是弱势美元无法解释油价比去年上升大约85%。
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is the world's largest oil producing group. It says its member nations, not including Iraq, are investing one hundred twenty billion dollars in over one hundred new oil projects. OPEC says it produces about forty-five percent of the world's oil exports.
OPEC(石油输出国组织)是世界最大石油生产组织。OPEC说，不包括伊拉克在内的其成员国目前在100多个石油项目中投资1200亿美元。OPEC还说，其生产世界石油出口量的大约45%。
In the past, non-OPEC producers like Russia, Mexico and Norway have increased production to meet demand. But these nations have struggled to keep production at the levels of recent years. Norway's production, for example, has decreased by twenty-five percent since two thousand one.
过去，诸如俄罗斯、墨西哥和挪威等非OPEC生产国提高产量，可满足需求。但是，这些生产国很难维持近年来的生产量。例如，挪威的产油量比2001年减少了25%。
The expanding economies of Asia, especially China and India, have increased pressure on world supplies. Meeting demand appears to be harder than ever before.
亚洲的经济快速增长国家，尤其是中国和印度，造成了世界(石油)供应的紧张。满足需求似乎比以往更困难。
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts and archives are at www.unsv.com. I'm Bob Doughty.
这是由Mario Ritter编写的、VOA特别英语的经济报道。文稿和档案，请访问www.unsv.com。我是Steve Ember。
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