美国有线新闻 CNN 油价继暴涨后暴跌 特朗普称必要时会动用美战略石油储备

 

Oil has been front and center in headlines and stock markets since an attack was carried out against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia last Saturday. No one was hurt. But Saudi Arabia exports more oil than any other country. And half of its production was temporarily disrupted. That caused a surge in oil prices when international stock markets opened on Monday. Oil is sold by the barrel. Each barrel is equal to 42 gallons. A barrel of Brent crude oil, a world standard, was selling for around $60 a barrel last Friday before the attack happened.

Afterward¹ on Monday, the price of Brent crude had risen to almost $72 at one point. That was its biggest increase in history. And it had an impact on stock markets around the world. But the higher price didn't hold. Yesterday it had settled back down to less than $64 a barrel. The reasons why — The Reuters News Agency reported that Saudi Arabian oil production would be back to normal in two to three weeks. And on Tuesday the Middle Eastern country's energy minister said that Saudi Arabia would use its reserves around the world to make sure its oil exports would stay the same despite the damaged facility. So stock market investors² saw all this as good news for the worlds oil supply and prices decreased.

Meantime, an international investigation³ is trying to figure out who conducted the attack. A United States government official told CNN that circuit boards from one of the weapons used have been recovered and they indicate that both drones and missiles were used in the attack. The official says Iran is a suspect though that country denies being involved. We mentioned that Saudi Arabia has oil reserves available to decrease the impact of a disruption like this. The U.S. also has storage facilities known as the Strategic Petroleum⁴ Reserve. President Donald Trump⁵ said yesterday that he doesn't think oil from that will be needed right now. But he indicated that the U.S. is prepared to open the reserve if necessary.

1 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。