商业报道:全球油储概况

How much oil is really left around the world?

Let’s begin in the Mid¹ East, which has about 2/3 of the world’s proven oil reserves. Saudi Arabia is at the top, with 266 billion barrels. Iraq and Iran are also rich in crude along with Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. But it might surprise you that Canada has a lot of oil too, some 178 billion barrels. Much of it rests in the tar² sands of Alberta. It is a gigantic strip mining operation. Environmentalists score it a disaster, leaving behind toxic³ chemicals, stripping forests and contaminating the water supply.

Now, let’s go south to Venezuela and parts of Mexico. Much of their oil, like Canada’s, feeds the veracious⁴ appetite for crude in the United States, which is the world’s biggest consumer of oil. Yet, did you know that the U.S. has some 21 billion barrels in reserve, so why doesn’t it produce more? With the U.S. government bans most offshore⁵ drilling except in the Gulf⁶ of Mexico for environmental reasons.

So, what does Russia fit in all of this? It's flush with cash from its oil reserves and it is the world’s second largest producer.

Let’s take a look at Africa now. Libya has the most oil reserves on the continent, about 39 billion barrels. And further the south, Nigeria has lots of crude but lots of problems too. Militants⁷ routinely attack oil instillations and kidnap workers, disrupting production and making the world prices soar.

All that’s said, who is going to quench⁸ the global thirst for oil in the future? Will it could be that Brazil becomes the US major exporter with the discovery of a huge offshore oil field. The oil is in a great depth, some 4 miles below the ocean’s surface, but experts say, it is recoverable.

And that may be the future for oil, going to great extremes to get it out of the ground. Analysts⁹ estimate there’s another trillion barrels of oil yet to be discovered, but they say it would be found in remote places like the Arctic Ocean. So, it’s going to cost a lot of money to get it from the ground into your fuel tank.

现在全球油储状况怎么样呢？

让我们从中东开始，中东地区占世界上现已探明的石油储量的大约三分之二。其中，沙特阿拉伯石油储量最高，大约2660亿桶。伊拉克，伊朗，科威特和阿联酋储量也很高。但是，可能会让你吃惊的是，加拿大也有很高的石油储量，大约1780亿桶，其中大部分位于加拿大西部的阿尔伯达省，那里还有一个巨大的钢矿。环境学家表示，该矿会造成巨大的灾难，会遗留大量的有毒化学无，毁坏森林，污染水源。

现在，让我们向南部，看一下委内瑞拉和墨西哥的部分地区。和加拿大一样，他们的大部分石油也用来供应世界最大的石油消耗国，美国。然而，你是否知道，美国其实有210亿桶的石油储量，那么为什么他们不多生产一点呢？因为由于环境原因，美国政府禁止大部分海岸地区钻井产油，除了墨西哥湾地区。

那么，俄罗斯呢？俄罗斯由于丰富的石油储量赚取了大量钞票，它是世界上第二大石油生产国。

现在看一下非洲的状况。利比亚是非洲大陆上石油储量最多的国家，大约390亿桶。再向南一点，尼日利亚拥有很多原有，但是也面临很多问题。军盾经常袭击采油设备，绑架工人，扰乱生产，导致国际油价飙升。

那么，谁能满足未来全球的石油需求呢？巴西在海岸地区发现了巨大的油田，会不会成为美国的主要石油供应国呢？石油储存位置很深，大约海平面以下4英里，但是专家表示，还是可以采取措施进行开采的。

可能这就是石油的未来，想方设法，无所不用其极的将石油挖出地面。分析家估计，还有数以兆计的石油等待发掘，但是他们说可能会在偏远的北冰洋。所以，可能将那些石油挖掘出来撞到你的油箱里可能会花费巨大的成本。

1 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

2 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 veracious   

adj.诚实可靠的

参考例句：

• Miss Stackpole was a strictly veracious reporter.斯坦克波尔小姐是一丝不苟、实事求是的记者。
• We need to make a veracious evaluation.我们需要事先作出准确的估计。

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 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。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 quench   

vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制

参考例句：

• The firemen were unable to quench the fire.消防人员无法扑灭这场大火。
• Having a bottle of soft drink is not enough to quench my thirst.喝一瓶汽水不够解渴。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。