2007年VOA标准英语-Venezuela's Oil Revenues Funds Social Programs

By Simon Marks
Caracas
16 March 2007
 
watch Venezuela Oil report

 
With oil prices hovering¹ above $55 a barrel, petroleum-rich Venezuela is awash with money. The windfall allows President Hugo Chavez to fund numerous social programs for the country's poor as well as gain influence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean by selling oil at concessionary prices. But the oil spigot may be running dry. Simon Marks reports from Lake Maracaibo, the center of Venezuela's oil patch.

Oil represents about three-quarters of Venezuela's export earnings² and nearly half of government revenues. And Hugo Chavez is squeezing the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, to finance his goal of socialism for the 21st century.  The company has responsibilities to organize and pay for numerous social programs.                                 

 
Jose Pirela
The manager of one of the biggest fields on Lake Maracaibo, Jose Pirela, says after 90 years, oil is getting harder to extract. "We need help with technology from all countries."

But right now, Venezuelans are drenched³ in oil money and are enjoying every minute of it.

For example, car sales are up by 50 percent over last year. And gas costs the equivalent of 12 cents (U.S.) a liter.

 
Robert Bottome
It's this kind of consumer frenzy⁴ that worries financial analyst⁵ Robert Bottome. "We used to be importing $10-12 billion a year, we're now importing 30. Well, you can't sustain that. The day the price of oil settles to a more reasonable level, which I think is soon, we're just in trouble. There's no way of sustaining the consumption, there is no way of sustaining the illusion of growth."

But Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Maduro says the government does have contingency⁶ plans if oil prices drop. "Obviously, a fall in the price of oil would have a very serious consequence for our economy. But today we have a very strong position because we have strong national reserves, and we've created a National Investment Fund to save the money that is coming in as oil revenues. So if there were a collapse⁷ in oil prices -- and we don't foresee that in the next ten years -- Venezuela is prepared to continue our social investment. Spending won't be affected⁸."

Bottome, American oil analysts⁹, even OPEC say Venezuela is producing far less than the 3.3 million barrels a day it claims. And according to Bottome, the country is becoming ever-more dependent on oil. "The upshot is that where we had 11,000 industrial plants functioning here in 1998, we have under 5,000 now. If they're multinationals¹⁰ they've moved production to Colombia, to Costa Rica, to Brazil, to Mexico. And if they're Venezuelans then a lot of them have plain gone out of business."

Perhaps that is why Venezuela is exploring deep in the interior of the country.   There may be as many as 300 billion barrels of oil in the Orinoco Basin. That would give Venezuela the world's biggest proven reserves. 

But the oil there is hard to extract, and expensive to refine and bring to market.  By itself, Venezuela probably can't afford the costs.

Nevertheless, at the end of February, Chavez nationalized the fields -- a move that has put foreign participation¹¹ in the Orinoco in jeopardy¹².

1 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

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 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

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。

10 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

11 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

12 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。