Peko

【生词摘录】
point finger 公开指责
boil down 浓缩，精简，归结
paramount adj.首要，最高的，最重要的
stagnant adj.不流动的，停滞的，萧条的，不景气的
cartel n.卡特尔，企业联合
scoff v.嘲笑，嘲弄，藐视
elevate v.举起，抬起，上升

American motorists appear to grow more dismayed every time they go to a gasoline station. The average price for a gallon of fuel rose nearly six cents in the past week alone, and is more than 50 cents higher than a year ago.

While consumers complain, others are pointing fingers. For Ray Carbone, who heads the New York-based energy trading firm Paramount Options, the issue boils down to three words: supply and demand. He notes that the world is consuming more fossil fuel each day, led by large, rapidly developing countries like China and India, at a time when global oil production is stagnant.

"The demand numbers coming out of Asia, although slower than a year or two ago, have certainly put into the fore  that the U.S. is not the big, big driver in demand that it used to be, And that seems to be what people are having trouble coming to grips with, I think."

Despite rising oil consumption, the world's largest oil cartel, OPEC, has resisted calls to boost production. But OPEC officials are offering no apologies, and scoff at the theory that inadequate supply to meet rising demand lies at the heart of today's elevated oil prices.

参考译文：

美国的驾车者每当走进加油站时似乎变得更失望了。仅上周，平均每加仑燃油的价格就上涨了近6美分，这比去年高出了50美分。

在消费者抱怨之时，其他人则开始公开辩论谁该为此负责。

对于总部设于纽约的能源交易公司Paramount Option的领导人Ray Carbone而言，该问题简而言之就是三个字“供与需”。他谈到，当全球石油生产正处于停滞期时，世界每天却在消耗更多的化石燃料，而其中消耗最多的是像中国和印度这样较大的、高速发展的国家。

“现在亚洲已经比一、两年前明显放缓了需求量，但可以肯定的是，美国已经不在像过去一样是个大需求量的国家，我认为，这是人们不大好对付的。

尽管油价不断增长，世界最大的石油联盟OPEC却抵制提高产量的呼声。而且，OPEC官员非但没表示道歉，还嘲笑供不应求是当今油价上涨的核心问题的理论。

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.

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.

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.

The expanding economies of Asia, especially China and India, have increased pressure on world supplies.  Meeting demand appears to be harder than ever before.

参考译文：

油价居高不下的另一个原因就是美元疲软。石油用美元交易，所以贬值的美元购买更少的石油。但是，专家指出，仅仅美元疲软无法解释油价比去年上涨85%左右。

石油输出国家组织（OPEC）是世界上最大的石油生产组织。它说,不包括伊拉克在内的成员国，目前在100多个新的石油项目中投资了1200亿美元。欧佩克说其生产约为世界石油出口量的45%。

过去，非欧佩克生产国如俄罗斯，墨西哥和挪威会提高产量来满足需求。但是这些国家很难使产量维持在近几年的水平。比如，挪威的生产量自2001年以来已经下降了25%。

亚洲的经济快速增长，尤其是中国和印度，已经造成了世界石油供应的紧张。满足需求似乎比以往更难。

【生词摘录】
relentless adj.无情的，残酷的
subside v.下沉
monopoly n.垄断，垄断者
petroleum n.石油
stockpile n.积蓄，库存
anemic a.贫血的

"Twenty-five percent of the increase in oil prices is strictly due to the fact that the dollar has gone down by 25 percent, because oil all over the world is priced in dollars."

Taken together, Hanke says, these and other factors have made for a "perfect storm" that relentlessly drives up oil prices with no end in sight.

What can be done about it? Hanke says oil prices would moderate if supply were increased and world demand leveled off or subsided. He says prices would also be lower if oil-producing nations reversed the trend towards state monopoly control of their petroleum sectors, if the U.S. government stopped stockpiling emergency oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve program, or if the U.S. dollar were to strengthen.

For that last suggestion to become reality, however, U.S. interest rates would likely have to rise, something America's central bank is unlikely to tolerate so long as the U.S. economy remains weak. Ironically, many economists blame America's anemic economic performance, in part, on higher fuel prices.

参考译文：

“石油价格上涨了25 ％，严格来讲是由于美元贬值了25 ％这一事实，因为全球的石油都是以美元定价的”。

综合考虑，汉克认为这些因素及其他因素形成了一个“完美风暴”，不停地推动石油价格攀升，看不到尽头。

对此能做些什么呢？汉克说，如果供应量增加，全球需求平稳或减弱，石油价格就能平缓。他说如果石油生产国扭转国家垄断控制自己石油部门的趋势，或者美国政府停止为战略石油储备计划储存紧急石油的措施，抑或美元能坚挺的话，石油价格也会降低。

然而，要使最后这个提议变成现实，就有可能需要提高利率，而这是美国中央银行不可能容忍的，因为美国经济依然疲弱。具有讽刺意味的是，许多经济学家都把燃油价格走高部分地归咎于美国的经济表现。