評論
打印
Early in march the oil market's central banker seemed to go berserk.
三月初，石油市場的中央銀行家們似乎暴跳如雷
Saudi Arabia, the most powerful member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
作為石油輸出國組織（OPEC）最強大的成員國
has long adjusted its supply to help stabilise the price of crude. Russia had teamed up with OPEC since 2016,
沙特阿拉伯長期以來一直在調(diào)整其石油供應，以幫助穩(wěn)定原油價格。自2016年以來，俄羅斯一直與OPEC合作，
but as covid-19 drove demand relentlessly down, it refused OPEC's plea to cut production.
但由于covid-19無情地壓低了需求，它拒絕了歐佩克減產(chǎn)的請求。
Saudi Arabia retaliated, declaring its intent to flood global markets.
沙特阿拉伯進行了報復，宣稱其意圖淹沒全球市場。
The price of Brent crude halved between March 5th and 18th, to $25 a barrel.
3月5日到18日之間，布倫特原油價格下跌了一半，至每桶25美元。
America is stepping in. On March 19th its Department of Energy said
美國介入。3月19日，美國能源部表示
it would buy 77m barrels of American crude to store in its strategic stockpile.
它將購買7700萬桶美國原油儲存在其戰(zhàn)略儲備中。
Ryan Sitton, a Texas oil regulator, is mulling restrictions on his state's output, which accounts for 41% of America's total.
德州石油監(jiān)管官員Ryan Sitton正在考慮對占美國總產(chǎn)量41%的德州石油產(chǎn)量進行限制。
"The world is in an extraordinary time," he says. "We need to consider extraordinary solutions."
“世界正處在一個非凡的時代”，他稱。“我們需要考慮非凡的解決方法。”
News on March 23rd that President Donald Trump had appointed an energy envoy to Saudi Arabia
3月23日，唐納德·特朗普總統(tǒng)已經(jīng)任命了一位能源特使前往沙特阿拉伯的消息
raised hopes that America might broker a truce between the kingdom and Russia.
燃起了美國可能促成沙特和俄羅斯停戰(zhàn)的希望。
America is not a newcomer to oil-market meddling.
美國并不是石油市場干預的新手。
The formation of OPEC was inspired in part by the Texas Railroad Commission (on which Mr Sitton now serves).
OPEC的形成部分是受到德克薩斯鐵路委員會的啟發(fā)（Sitton現(xiàn)在在該委員會任職）。
In the 1930s, when the price of oil wallowed below $1 a barrel, troopers fanned across Texas to enforce the commission's production limits.
20世紀30年代，當石油價格跌至每桶1美元以下時，德州各地的巡警展開行動，強制執(zhí)行委員會的限產(chǎn)令。
As America's oil imports rose, attention shifted to securing supply.
隨著美國石油進口的增加，人們的注意力轉(zhuǎn)向了保障供應。
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo.
戰(zhàn)略石油儲備建立于1975年，阿拉伯石油禁運之后。
Now that shale has transformed America into the world's biggest oil producer,
現(xiàn)在頁巖已經(jīng)將美國變成了世界上最大的石油生產(chǎn)國，
the country has renewed interest in propping up the price of crude.
該國重新燃起了支撐原油價格的興趣。
Mr Sitton maintains that production cuts may be necessary to ensure that America's shale industry survives covid-19.
Sitton堅持認為，為了確保美國頁巖產(chǎn)業(yè)能在covid-19中存活下來，減產(chǎn)可能是必要的。
But America will find OPEC 's mantle an awkward fit.
但是美國將會發(fā)現(xiàn)OPEC的職責是一個尷尬的搭配。
The vast salt caverns along America's Gulf coast that contain the strategic reserve are already about 90% full,
美國墨西哥灣沿岸包含戰(zhàn)略儲備的巨大鹽穴已經(jīng)滿約90%，
so they cannot store enough excess supply. Texan regulators have not tried to curb output for decades.
因此，它們無法儲存足夠的過剩供應。幾十年來，德州的監(jiān)管機構都沒有想要限制產(chǎn)量。
Any attempt would surely meet legal and practical hurdles.
任何嘗試肯定都會遇到法律和實際的障礙。
譯文由可可原創(chuàng)，僅供學習交流使用，未經(jīng)許可請勿轉(zhuǎn)載。
