美国国家公共电台 NPR 沙特开始给美国添堵 多艘油轮正逼近美国

A fleet of oil tankers¹ from Saudi Arabia has begun arriving on the U.S. Gulf² Coast. But this country already has plenty of crude oil. So why is there more coming in from Saudi Arabia? NPR's Jackie Northam explains.

多艘沙特阿拉伯油轮开始抵达美国墨西哥湾海岸。但美国已经有很多原油了。那为什么还会有更多油轮从沙特而来？NPR新闻的杰基·诺瑟姆将带来详细报道。

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE³: In late March, massive tankers in eastern Saudi Arabia were filled with crude oil and then set sail on a long journey to the other side of the world.

杰基·诺瑟姆连线：3月下旬，大型油轮在沙特东部装满原油，然后启航远行，驶向世界另一端。

MICHELLE BOCKMANN: What you have is a convoy⁴, really, of 18 very large crude carriers that each carry 2 million barrels of crude.

米歇尔·博克曼：这里说的是一个船队，18艘大型原油船，每艘船上载有200万桶原油。

NORTHAM: Michelle Bockmann is an energy commodities analyst⁵ at Lloyd’s List, the world's oldest shipping⁶ news service.

诺瑟姆：米歇尔·博克曼是全球历史最悠久的航运新闻服务公司劳埃德航运公司的能源商品分析师。

BOCKMANN: And when you track them on a satellite map of the world, you can actually see them coming down along the east coast of Africa, across the Atlantic, through to the U.S. Gulf.

博克曼：在全球卫星地图上追踪这些油轮时，你实际上可以看到它们沿着非洲东海岸航行，穿过大西洋，到达美国墨西哥湾。

NORTHAM: Bockmann says it's believed some of the oil has been purchased by U.S. refiners at deeply discounted prices. Some of it is sent on spec. The tankers were loaded when Saudi Arabia went on a production spree, pumping millions of extra barrels each day. Some of the tankers were chartered, including one going for a record-breaking $350,000 per day.

诺瑟姆：博克曼表示，据悉，其中部分石油已被美国炼油商以大幅折扣价格购买。还有部分石油被运来碰运气。这些油轮装载时，沙特正在进行疯狂生产，每天多开采数百万桶石油。部分油轮是包租油轮，其中一艘油轮的日租金创下了35万美元的记录。

BOCKMANN: They were so keen to get this armada of oil over to the U.S. Gulf, they paid this crazy money.

博克曼：他们非常渴望将这个石油舰队送到美国墨西哥湾，并为此支付天价。

NORTHAM: The Saudi crude arrives as the U.S. shale⁷ industry is being hit hard by a glut⁸ of oil on the market because of a drop in demand due to the coronavirus. North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer told NPR that Saudi Arabia exploited the situation. Cramer is part of a growing chorus calling on President Trump⁹ to stop the Saudi oil from reaching refineries¹⁰ on the Gulf Coast.

诺瑟姆：沙特原油抵达之际，美国页岩行业因市场上石油过剩而遭到重创，而石油过剩是因为冠状病毒致需求下降。北达科塔州共和党参议员凯文·克莱默对NPR表示，沙特利用了这一情况。希望特朗普总统阻止沙特石油进入墨西哥湾沿岸炼油厂的呼声日益高涨，克莱默就是其中一员。

KEVIN CRAMER: We're allowing Saudi Arabia to continue to have such easy access to the American markets at a time when it is Saudi Arabia, in my view, that is largely responsible for the great supply glut.

凯文·克莱默：在我看来，沙特阿拉伯要为供应严重过剩负主要责任，而此时我们依然允许沙特阿拉伯继续如此轻易地进入美国市场。

NORTHAM: Cramer says he would be all for placing tariffs¹¹ on the crude but would go further, withdrawing U.S. troops and weapons defense¹² systems from Saudi Arabia.

诺瑟姆：克莱默表示，他完全赞成对原油征收关税，但要更进一步，从沙特阿拉伯撤离美军和武器防御系统。

CRAMER: Why would we put 2,500 troops in harm's way and a whole bunch of missile defense systems in Saudi Arabia to defend their oil when they've declared war on our oil?

克莱默：在沙特向我们的石油宣战时，为什么我们要让2500名美军处于危险之中，还让该国境内的大量导弹防御系统来保卫他们的石油？

NORTHAM: Critics say President Trump has been soft on Saudi Arabia, turning a blind eye to the devastating¹³ air offensive in Yemen, human rights abuses and the killing¹⁴ of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Kirsten Fontenrose, a former senior director on Gulf affairs in the Trump administration now with the Atlantic Council, acknowledges Trump's close relationship with Saudi Arabia.

诺瑟姆：批评人士表示，特朗普总统一直对沙特过于宽容，对该国在也门发动的破坏性空袭、侵犯人权以及杀害沙特记者贾马尔·哈苏吉的行为视而不见。克里斯汀·福特罗斯是前特朗普政府海湾事务高级负责人，现就职于大西洋理事会，她承认特朗普与沙特关系密切。

KIRSTEN FONTENROSE: Part of it is because there is this kind of personalized relationship between the president and the Saudi royal family that began when the president made his big trip out there in 2017.

克里斯汀·福特罗斯：部分原因在于总统与沙特王室之间存在私人关系，这种关系始于总统2017年对沙特的访问。

NORTHAM: But Fontenrose says the Trump administration sees Saudi Arabia as a valuable ally it needs to stick with.

诺瑟姆：但福特罗斯表示，特朗普政府认为沙特是需要支持的重要盟友。

FONTENROSE: We can either just sort of write them off and then wind up with lots of other problems down the road, or we can say, OK, this is unacceptable. But what we're going to do is try to mentor¹⁵ this behavior change.

福特罗斯：要么我们无视他们，然后遇到各种其他问题，要么我们可以说，好吧，这不可接受。但我们要做的是努力指导这种行为改变。

NORTHAM: Saudi Arabia may not have got that message, judging from the millions of barrels of crude oil heading to the Gulf Coast.

诺瑟姆：从运往墨西哥湾沿岸的数百万桶原油来看，沙特可能没有得到这一信息。

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

NPR新闻，杰基·诺瑟姆报道。

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

5 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。

6 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。

7 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

8 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

9 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。

10 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。

11 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。