VOA常速英语2007年-Cuba Hosts Regional Leaders at Oil Summit

By Brian Wagner
Miami
22 December 2007

Cuba is hosting a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders to discuss a Venezuelan-led oil partnership¹. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports officials say the deal has helped keep oil flowing to smaller nations, as global prices for crude have soared.

Ailing² Cuban leader Fidel Castro was absent at the meeting of leaders in the city of Cienfuegos, more than 200 kilometers southeast of Havana. Instead his brother and acting³ president, Raul Castro, gave a speech to a dozen heads of state, including those from Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Castro said the Petrocaribe oil alliance, launched in 2005, has meant that member states have enough fuel to ensure economic development and satisfy people's needs.

He also criticized the high demand for energy from industrial nations.

Castro said there is no doubt that growing consumerism in rich nations is having a devastating⁴ impact on the planet and will continue to do so unless held in check.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told delegates that the Petrocaribe project is partly aimed at countering outside pressure.

Mr. Chavez said member states are creating a new geopolitics of oil that serves the people's interests, and not those of imperialists or big corporations.

Members of Petrocaribe formally admitted Honduras. expanding the partnership to 17 nations. Under the program, member states can pay for Venezuelan oil and processed fuels over several years, instead of the typical period of days or weeks.

Jorge Piñon, a former president of Amoco Oil Latin America, says the deal has enabled smaller nations to acquire needed energy supplies, amid soaring prices for fuel.

He adds the oil deals have placed a new burden on Venezuela. "Instead of being indebted to a Chase, or Citi, or one of the big banking⁵ conglomerates⁶ of the world, or to the International Monetary⁷ Fund for that matter, all of these states are now today becoming indebted to Venezuela," he said.

Mr. Chavez said that Petrocaribe members' collective debt for Venezuelan oil is currently almost one point two billion dollars. He said some Petrocaribe members may be able to pay for Venezuelan oil with goods or social services. Cuba, for example, pays for some of its oil with medical care provided to poor Venezuelans by Cuban doctors.

Venezuela also has sent more than $166 million to Cuba to refurbish a Soviet-era refinery⁸ in Cienfuegos, which officials are inaugurating during the summit. Officials say the facility will process 6,500 barrels of oil a day and boost Cuban supplies of diesel⁹, gasoline and jet fuel.

Piñon says the refinery will be a crucial resource in coming years, when Cuba plans to begin drilling in new offshore¹⁰ wells. "The benefit for Cuba is that it gives them additional refinery capacity in case any new oil is found in deep water off shore in the Gulf¹¹ of Mexico," he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the waters between Cuba and the U.S. state of Florida contain at least 4.6 billion barrels of undiscovered oil.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 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。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 conglomerates   

n.（多种经营的）联合大企业( conglomerate的名词复数 )；砾岩；合成物；组合物

参考例句：

• At the surface, radioactivity of the conglomerates is locally as high as 30 X background. 在地表，砾岩的局部地段的放射性高达30倍本底值。 来自辞典例句
• The conglomerates failed to understand that books could not be sold like soap. 这些联合大企业不懂卖书不象卖肥皂那样。 来自辞典例句

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

9 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

10 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。

11 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。