经济学人287:雪佛龙与巴西的石油工业

 　　THE flow of oil from cracks in the seabed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro has long since slowed to a mere¹ trickle². Not so the retribution against Chevron³, an American oil company that was drilling in the Frade oilfield on November 7th when a sudden rise in pressure caused a leak.

　　原油从里约热内卢离岸海床的裂缝中流出已经是很久的事情了，不过由于溢出的原油只是缓慢的涓涓细流（而没人发现它并受到惩罚）。然而这次雪佛龙所受的惩罚就不是这样了。11月7日，这家来自美国的石油公司正在Frade油田钻探，剧升的压力引发了（明显的）原油泄漏。

　　Brazil’s environment agency, IBAMA, has fined the company 50m reais ($28m) for the leak. On December 23rd it levied⁴ a further 10m reais for poor contingency⁵ planning. The National Petroleum⁶ Agency (ANP), the industry regulator, has closed one of Chevron’s Frade wells and suspended the firm’s drilling rights. The Rio de Janeiro state government is suing for 150m reais. A federal prosecutor⁷ in Campos, a city in the north of the state, is demanding 20 billion reais in punitive⁸ damages and seeking an injunction to halt all operations in Brazil by both Chevron and Transocean, the subcontractor drilling for it in Frade. Federal police, meanwhile, want to bring criminal charges against bosses of both companies.

　　巴西的环境部门——巴西可再生资源与环保局已经因这次泄漏事故对雪佛龙处以5,000万雷亚尔（2,800美元）罚款。12月23日，该局又为可能性极低的规划对雪佛龙追加1,000万雷亚尔的罚款。石油管理机构——巴西国家石油管理局（ANP）已经关闭雪佛龙位于Frade的其中一处油井，同时取消了这家公司的钻探权。里约热内卢政府正在申诉15,000万雷亚尔的罚款。位于巴西北方的城市——Campos的一位联邦公诉人提出200亿雷亚尔的惩罚性损失赔偿，并正在寻求禁止雪佛龙和Transocean公司在巴西的所有作业的强制令。Transocean公司承担雪佛龙在Frade 钻探任务。与此同时，联邦警察意图以刑事罪处置两家公司的主管人员。

　　After the 4.9m-barrel spill from the Macondo well in the Gulf⁹ of Mexico in 2010, oil regulators around the world are in no mood for leniency¹⁰. But the blitz against Chevron, for a leak of no more than 3,000 barrels, makes some industry-watchers wonder whether Brazil wants foreign oil companies at all. “The reactions are out of proportion with the size of the leak,” says José Goldemberg, an energy and environment specialist at the University of S?o Paulo. Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant, holds a minority stake in Frade, but none of the lawsuits¹¹ or fines names it as a respondent. “I don’t think there would have been the same enthusiasm for big fines if Petrobras had been drilling.”

　　自2010年墨西哥湾Macondo油井490万桶原油泄漏后，全球各国石油管理部门严厉无比。但仅因区区3,000桶而对雪佛龙铺天盖地地进行惩罚，这使得一事行业观察家怀疑巴西是否完全不想要外国石油了。“这些反应与泄漏规模是不相对称的，”一位圣保罗的大学的能源与环境专家José Goldemberg表示。巴西政府控股的石油巨头拥有Frade的少量股份，但它却从未作为被告面临任务诉讼罚款。“假设Petrobras（也像雪佛龙一样）进行钻探，我不认为当局会同样积极处以这么大的罚款。”

　　Brazil ended Petrobras’s monopoly and opened up its oil industry to private and foreign investment in the 1990s. But its recent oil policy has been “nationalist and populist”, says Adriano Pires, a Rio-based energy consultant¹² and former ANP official. It has restricted foreign companies to secondary roles in most new projects. A law approved in 2010 requires that in the recently discovered ultra-deep pré-sal (“sub-salt”) fields, Petrobras must be the operator with a minimum 30% stake (existing concessions¹³ are unaffected). Mr Pires fears that Chevron’s mishandling of communications will only harden the new mood. The company was slow to make details of the accident public, he says, and arrogant¹⁴ when it did; press conferences in English went down particularly badly. “It gave the authorities another chance to claim that foreign oil companies drilling in Brazil act carelessly,” he laments¹⁵.

　　上世纪90年代，巴西取消了Petrobras的垄断权，同时对私营企业和外国投资者开放该国的石油产业。但Adriano Pires表示，巴西最近的石油政策让其变成“国家主义者和平民主义者”。 Adriano Pires是扎根里约热内卢能源顾问，同时也是巴西国家石油管理局的前官员。在大多数新项目上，巴西已经将外国公司置诸次要地位。2010年，一项经批准的法律要求最近被发现的超级深海盐田，Petrobras作为经营的一方必须至少拥有30%的股份（目前的特许权看来是不会动摇的）。Pires担忧不正确的公关举措将只会加深这种新的情绪。Pires表示，雪佛龙傲慢的态度以及缓慢公布这次泄漏事故的相关细节。用英语的记者执行使这种情况变得更糟。“这给当局另一个机会去指责在巴西钻探的外国石油公司表现漫不经心。”Pires惋惜地表示。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

3 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

4 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

5 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

6 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。

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

9 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。

10 leniency   

n.宽大（不严厉）

参考例句：

• udges are advised to show greater leniency towards first-time offenders.建议法官对初犯者宽大处理。
• Police offer leniency to criminals in return for information.警方给罪犯宽大处理以换取情报。

11 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

12 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

13 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

14 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

15 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句