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美国天然气现在还不能帮助欧洲

As Russia continues to raise its natural gas prices to Ukraine, some people are looking to American gas as a way to ease Europe's energy dependence¹ on Russia.  But it's a solution that's still several years off.

由于俄罗斯继续提高供给乌克兰的天然气价格，有人认为美国天然气可以帮助缓解欧洲对俄罗斯的能源依赖。但是这一解决方式几年后才能奏效。

In their home near Kyiv, Svetlana Kuleshova and Yuri Kuleshov are paying the price for more expensive Russian gas.

家在基辅附近的库勒索娃和库里肖夫正为俄罗斯天然气支付越来越高的价格。

"It will directly affect our budget.  We will simply stop buying all the things we are buying now," the pensioner² explained, "because in any case we will be forced to pay the gas bill as we have to at least heat the house in order not to freeze.  We will start looking for alternatives, of course."

库里肖夫是一位抚恤金领取者。他说：“这将直接影响我们的家庭预算。我们将停止购买现在能买的所有东西，因为无论如何我们都得支付天然气账单，至少保证房子里有暖气，免得冻坏。当然，我们将开始寻找替代燃料。”

Their worry is familiar to many Europeans.  Ukraine and six other European countries get all their gas from Russia.

他们的担忧与许多欧洲人相似。乌克兰和其他六个欧洲国家所有的天然气都来自俄罗斯。

Meanwhile, threats of Western economic sanctions against Russia have been shrugged³ off.  Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov says Moscow can find other places to sell its gas and that will cost Europe even more.

同时，俄罗斯并不理睬西方的经济制裁威胁。俄罗斯第一副总理舒瓦洛夫说，莫斯科能找到天然气的其他买家，而欧洲会因此付出更高的代价。

"It will force Europeans to invest in new infrastructure⁴ to buy gas from the United States and other parts of the world.  You will pay for this more," noted⁵ Shuvalov.  "It will mean that the consumers will pay more, but Russian gas will be consumed by someone else in other regions of the world."

“这会迫使欧洲投资新的基础设施来购买美国和世界其他地区的天然气。这样会花费更多。这意味着消费者的花费会增加。而俄罗斯的天然气会被世界其他地区的人消费。”

Problem solved?

American natural gas, flowing through terminals located in various locations including the Eastern U.S. state of Maryland, could help solve the problem...but not yet.

美国天然气通过类似马里兰东部的这个终端，可以帮助解决问题。但是现在还不行。

A new section of the plant to enable the Maryland facility to liquefy natural gas and ship it overseas won't be ready until late 2017.  Other plants being built are on a similar timeline.

天然气厂新区的设备可以将天然气液化，并海运到欧洲。但这个项目到2017年末才能完成。其他在建工厂的工期也与其类似。

And when it does open, the terminal will send all its gas to India and Japan.

竣工后，这个终端将输送全部天然气到印度和日本。

Energy expert Paul Bledsoe, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, says the U.S. will not be Europe's first new source of gas.

能源专家布莱索是美国德国马歇尔基金会的高级研究员，他说美国不会是欧洲的第一天然气新来源。

"The first places are going to be a southern pipeline⁶ from Central Asia, from North Africa and from their own resources," Bledsoe explained.  "What we're talking about, though, is broadening the available resources globally for gas generally, essentially⁷ globalizing the natural gas market."

“最早的几个地方将是中亚、北非的南部天然气管道，以及欧洲自己的资源。但是现在我们讨论的是拓展全球的可用资源、天然气资源，使天然气市场全球化。”

Bledsoe says Washington should expedite applications by European countries to import U.S. gas and help Europe develop its own gas from shale⁸ gas.

布莱索说，华盛顿应该加快对欧洲国家进口美国天然气的审批程序，并帮助欧洲开发自己的页岩气产业。

"What we're really calling for is a joint⁹ U.S.-EU plan on natural gas, to diversify¹⁰ the sources of gas for Europe, to reduce long-term prices, to cut emissions¹¹ and cut dependence on Russia.  There's a tremendous opportunity here," he said.

“我们现在真正呼吁的是美欧天然气联合计划，使欧洲天然气来源多样化，降低长期价格，减少排放，减少对俄罗斯的依赖。这个领域有大量的机遇。”

When that happens, both Europe and America will benefit, according to energy writer and professor Steve LeVine.

能源作家莱文教授说，这个计划实现后，欧洲和美国都会受益。

"The impact of putting [exporting] all this gas, and the signal that it's sending, is going to be to increase U.S. influence in the world, geopolitical influence from this natural gas," he said.

“出口天然气的影响和它所释放的信号会扩大美国在世界的影响，会使美国从天然气中获得地缘政治影响。”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to LeVine, will then have to sell natural gas to China, which will insist on a lower price.

莱文说，俄罗斯总统普京届时不得不把天然气卖给中国，而中国一定会压价。