美国原油产量超沙特阿拉伯

 　　But first which country is the world's biggest crude oil producer? Saudi Arabia, right? No, wrong, there's a new number one. Saudi Arabia has been knocked off its perch¹ by the United States. According to the latest report from Bank of America, US production of crude oil and liquids separated from natural gas has surpassed all other countries this year with daily output reaching 11 million barrels and America has for four years now been the largest single producer of natural gas. Energy-wise, it seems Uncle Sam is sitting pretty but how has this all come about? Michael Widmer is a commodity strategist at Bank of America.

　　There's been a development that has been in the making for quite a while but it basically comes back down to the revolution in the shale³ oil industry that kicked off a few years back and oil producers in the States basically tapping sort of wealth that had previously⁴ or not been tapped.

　　美国原油产量超沙特阿拉伯So this is all down to fracking then.

　　It is, indeed.

　　I would imagine this is really something akin² to the holy grail as far as the United States is concerned, both politically and economically. You see, it is actually quite an interesting development.

1 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

2 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

3 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。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。