The European Union is taking aim at Russia's main revenue source: oil

The European Union is taking aim at Russia's main revenue source: oil

Transcript¹

With the European Union countries vowing² to stop buying Russian oil, India and China might get some more crude for a discount, but it is not going to make up the lost profits for Russia.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The European Union is taking aim at Russia's main revenue source - oil. In response to the ongoing³ war, over the next six months, the EU plans to wind down imports worth hundreds of millions of dollars a day. That means extra oil on the market that others might buy. But many countries and companies are distancing themselves from Russian oil. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE⁴: For energy companies, Russia has always been a challenging but potentially lucrative⁵ place to operate. The rewards were often worth the risks. But shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, that changed. George Voloshin is a Paris-based analyst⁶ for the global consultancy Aperio Intelligence. He says BP was the first to announce it was pulling out.

GEORGE VOLOSHIN: It was quite, I think, surprising to many observers at such an early stage in the conflict. Then there were Exxon Mobil on the American side. There was then Shell and, more recently, TotalEnergy (ph). And basically, it's all about withdrawing from the market.

NORTHAM: It costs the energy companies, in some cases, billions of dollars to pull out of Russia. But oil traders, shippers and insurance companies, as well as refineries⁷, are also distancing themself from Russia.

Gary Peach, an analyst with London-based Energy Intelligence, says they're worried about reputational risk. They have shareholders⁸ and governments to answer to.

GARY PEACH: These companies do not want to be hit - you know, like, sort of a black eye for, you know, buying oil that will essentially⁹ go to Moscow and help finance the war effort. So as the war drags on and it gets worse and the images out of Ukraine emerge on TV screens, the pressure is only going to intensify¹⁰.

NORTHAM: Russia is still pumping roughly 11 million barrels of crude a day, but it's much harder to move now. And it's started running out of storage space. Tankers¹¹ filled to the brim are waiting on open waters for buyers for the excess oil. All this will be exacerbated¹² once the EU's embargo¹³ kicks in by the end of the year, putting roughly 2 million barrels a day back on the market. But Peach says there will still be some buyers.

PEACH: Because oil demand isn't going anywhere. It's needed worldwide, and traders will find loopholes. And, you know, Russia will find out ways - invent creative ways to sell its oil.

NORTHAM: Robert McNally, the president of Rapidan Energy Group, says buyers for the extra oil are already emerging.

ROBERT MCNALLY: The main one everyone's looking at is India. India has started to take a lot more Russian oil.

NORTHAM: But because there's so much Russian oil available, India can get it at a discount, meaning less money for Moscow. Still, McNally says India isn't buying that much.

MCNALLY: India can't just sort of drop its other suppliers, like in the Persian Gulf¹⁴, and decide to deal only with Russia, right? That'll get them crosswise with the Gulf producers. So I don't think India can offset¹⁵ the loss of Europe.

NORTHAM: Then there's China with its voracious¹⁶ appetite for oil. Voloshin, with Aperio Intelligence, says China is also getting a bargain. But he says some Chinese refineries and oil companies are also distancing themself from Russia.

VOLOSHIN: We're seeing that these companies are also reluctant to get in the crosshairs of U.S. regulators. They also fear that they will just get into financial trouble because the banks aren't willing to lend money anymore because of, you know, Russia's isolation¹⁷ from the world's financial system.

NORTHAM: Voloshin says there could still be some underground sales of Russian oil. But right now, Moscow's options to sell its most profitable commodity are narrowing.

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ...OF SINKING SHIPS' "IT'S EASIER WITH NO DESTINATION")

1 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。

2 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

11 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

12 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

15 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。

16 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

17 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。