美国国家公共电台 NPR--The White House and Saudi Arabia are embroiled in a public fight over oil production

The White House and Saudi Arabia are embroiled¹ in a public fight over oil production

Transcript²

After the Saudis urged OPEC+ to slash³ global oil production, the White House and the kingdom are fighting over oil in public. President Biden is warning "there will be consequences" for Saudi Arabia.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is a complicated one. For more than seven decades, the two countries have maintained a close relationship, largely centered on oil. But after the Saudis urged OPEC+ to slash global oil production, the White House and the kingdom are fighting over oil in public. President Biden is warning there will be consequences for Saudi Arabia. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid has been digging into this story and joins us now. Hi.

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE⁴: Hi there, Leila.

FADEL: So, Asma, walk us back. I remember you were on that trip President Biden took to Saudi Arabia this summer - controversial trip because of the human rights record under Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin⁵ Salman. But the visit happened. There was that fist bump. So walk us through how we got here.

KHALID: Well, after that trip, Saudi accelerated its production of oil. And in fact, it was producing a near-record amount, which helped bring down those high gas prices we all remember seeing earlier this year. And I talked with a senior Biden administration official who spoke⁶ on the condition of anonymity⁷ to candidly⁸ describe private conversations at the time. So the Saudis were telling U.S. officials that the kingdom was prepared to keep production high through the end of the year. But when global oil prices started plunging⁹, the Saudis got nervous about market volatility¹⁰. And the official told me that led to a 2 1/2-hour phone conversation between U.S. officials and the Saudi oil minister and the Saudi finance minister. They just had a fundamental disagreement over the state of the world economy and the role that oil prices play. They argued that an oil cut would increase inflationary pressures. But still, last week, OPEC+ announced it would cut production by 2 million barrels a day. And, you know, this is a group that includes Russia, which wants higher oil prices because it's fighting a very expensive war in Ukraine.

FADEL: OK. But the Biden White House has accused Saudi Arabia of helping¹¹ Russia with this move. Is that really what's actually happening here?

KHALID: Well, the Saudi foreign ministry¹² issued a statement saying OPEC+ decisions are made through, quote, "consensus¹³" and "based purely¹⁴ on economic considerations." The Saudis are also claiming that the U.S. suggested the cuts be delayed by a month, which is when OPEC next meets. But it is also after the midterm elections. And look, Leila, this all comes at a time when many Americans are anxious already about rising prices.

FADEL: Yeah.

KHALID: Gas prices going up as a result of this news just as people are beginning to vote could have consequences. And Republicans have been eager to campaign on inflation. I asked Bob McNally about all of this. He's been watching the oil markets for years, initially¹⁵ in the Bush administration and now as the president of Rapidan Energy Group. He told me a country like Saudi Arabia is hyperfocused on avoiding low oil prices.

BOB MCNALLY: That is all they care about. Had we not even had the Russian invasion of Ukraine, had we not even had the tiff¹⁶ with President Biden, I still believe they would have cut production because of that free fall in oil prices. But the optics of it were terrible because it does coincide with the proximity¹⁷ of the U.S. elections, with inflation concerns and with the war - Russia's war in Ukraine, with Russia playing a high-profile role.

FADEL: OK. So has the White House been receptive to the Saudi argument that this decision was about the bottom line?

KHALID: No, Leila, they say there was no economic reason to do this. They say they told the Saudis, you could easily wait till the next meeting to see how the situation develops. The White House also says no matter how the Saudis try to spin this, ultimately it will increase revenues for Russian President Vladimir Putin and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions. Here's National Security Council spokesman John Kirby yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN KIRBY: Bottom line is, we don't want to see any nation helping Russia prosecute¹⁸ this war, whether that's moral support, military support or economic support. And the decision that OPEC+ came out with this week was certainly economic support. And I would argue it also fell into the category of moral and military support because it allows him to continue to fund his war-making machine. And it certainly gave him - Mr. Putin a sense of comfort here.

KHALID: And Leila, this really is an unusually public disagreement we're seeing between the Saudis and the Americans.

FADEL: Yeah, I mean, the White House even said that as a result of this decision, it's reevaluating its relationship with Riyadh. What does that actually mean?

KHALID: Well, President Biden's going to be talking to members of Congress. Senator Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wants to freeze arms sales to Saudi. And Bob McNally, the energy expert I mentioned earlier, says it's going to be important to see what the Saudis do if the world needs more oil this winter to offset¹⁹ the big loss of Russian supply. That could be a key turning point.

FADEL: NPR's Asma Khalid, thank you.

KHALID: My pleasure.

1 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

8 candidly   

adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地

参考例句：

• He has stopped taking heroin now,but admits candidly that he will always be a drug addict.他眼下已经不再吸食海洛因了,不过他坦言自己永远都是个瘾君子。
• Candidly,David,I think you're being unreasonable.大卫，说实话我认为你不讲道理。

9 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

14 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

15 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

16 tiff   

n.小争吵，生气

参考例句：

• They patched up their tiff again.他们平息了争执，又和好如初了。
• There was a new tiff between the two girls.那两个女孩之间有一场新的吵嘴。

17 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

18 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

19 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。