美国国家公共电台 NPR--U.S. and European allies are about to launch efforts to limit Russia's oil profits

U.S. and European allies are about to launch efforts to limit Russia's oil profits

Transcript¹

The U.S. and the European Union are taking aim again at Russia's oil profits, which it uses to fund the war in Ukraine. New rules start next week.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The United States and its allies hope they can finally find a formula to choke off Russia's funding of its war in Ukraine.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Russia's economy depends on selling oil. Next week, Europe plans to stop buying it for the most part. Europe also has a plan that would make it harder for Russians to sell it to anybody else. Therein lies the rub because Russian oil is part of the global supply. So how can the world block it without a massive rise in prices?

INSKEEP: NPR's Jackie Northam is trying to figure this out. Jackie, good morning.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE²: Morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How would the plan work?

NORTHAM: Well, you know, this is part of a sanctions package that the European Union passed in June. And what it's going to do, as you say, is going to ban any seaborne imports of Russian oil, and that's the majority that Europe buys. And if you remember, before the war, Europe was Russia's largest customer...

INSKEEP: Yeah.

NORTHAM: ...And it's been trying to wean itself off ever since. But, you know, there's another part of the sanctions package, Steve, and that's banning all European maritime³ services on any tankers⁴ carrying Russian oil. And by that I mean insurance, financial services, shipping⁵, anything like that. Ninety percent of the world's maritime services are European or are based in the U.K. So this ban would virtually stop tankers worldwide from carrying Russian crude.

INSKEEP: Wow.

NORTHAM: And you can only imagine what these two bans, you know, if they came into place, what that would have done to prices. So the U.S. has stepped in to just try to soften⁶ the blow of these bans.

INSKEEP: Soften the blow. But the U.S. also would like to cut off Russian oil profits, of course. So what's the alternative?

NORTHAM: Right. So the U.S. Treasury⁷ Department developed the idea of a price cap, and it's never been tried on oil before. And the other G-7 nations and the EU have signed on to this plan. And what it does is it allows tankers to carry Russian crude if it's at or less than a price cap that's being set by the G-7 and EU. And that will allow Russian oil to continue to flow around the world but at a reduced price. The challenge right now is figuring out what that price will be. And EU members cannot agree on one. And, you know, all this has to be figured out by Monday, when the EU's bans on oil insurance are due to kick in.

INSKEEP: OK, let's assume they figure out the details. They figure out a price. They use this leverage⁸ of insurance to say, you can't carry oil, Russia, unless you charge such a low, low price you don't have any money for your war in Ukraine. Is this going to work?

NORTHAM: Yeah, you know, on paper it looks pretty good. But there are some loopholes. First of all, not all nations are signing on to - you get powerhouses like China, India and Turkey. They've been on a buying spree of, you know, very cheap Russian crude since the war began. And I spoke⁹ with Ben Cahill. He's an energy specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here in D.C. And he said countries like China and India are wary¹⁰ of joining in.

BEN CAHILL: I think there's also some irritation¹¹ with Western sanctions and the idea that, you know, the U.S. and the EU are really pushing countries to do this, and they're interfering¹² with the global oil market.

INSKEEP: OK, so they're irritated, Jackie, but you said that Europe controls the insurance industry for the most part. They can block these tankers from moving by refusing them insurance. How could China or India do business with Russia, even if they want to?

NORTHAM: Well, Russia's trying to set up its own insurance system and there's - you know, trying to put its own tankers out on the waters. They could try to trade oil illicitly¹³, and that happens a lot already. The other thing is President Vladimir Putin is threatening not to do oil business with any country participating in this price cap. But, you know, Steve, he needs this oil to fund his war in Ukraine. But, you know, you cannot take his threats lightly.

INSKEEP: Because he could do something that causes the price of oil around the world to shoot up.

NORTHAM: Exactly.

INSKEEP: Jackie, thanks so much.

NORTHAM: Thanks, Steve.

CAHILL: That's NPR's Jackie Northam.

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 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。

3 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

4 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。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

9 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。

10 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

11 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

12 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

13 illicitly   

违法地，不正地

参考例句：

• That substance illicitly to fool quality-inspection testers because it can mimic the properties of protein. 乳制品之所以添加三聚氰胺是因为它可以虚增蛋白质含量、在质量测试中蒙混过关。
• Western governments international bodies should police Gaza's borders and crossing-points to stop weapons illicitly coming in. 西方政府和国际组织应该巡查加沙边界和交叉区域，阻止武器的非法流入。