导读
受到新冠疫情冲击，全球石油需求量骤减。“石油市场正经历全球范围内突然的、极端的历史性冲击。”BBC称，美国5月份轻质原油期货WTI价格暴跌至负值，“我们在港口的可用储油空间几乎卖光了。”世界最大独立石油存储公司Royal Vopak的首席财务官杰拉德·保利德斯对彭博社表示，据他所知全球其他地方的储油情况也是如此。
◆
双语阅读
The world may have to get used to oil turning up in unusual places. An enormous glut of crude sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting collapse in demand has overwhelmed the global distribution system. Oil markets broke down this week as buyers vanished for lack of storage space. At one point, the squeeze was so intense, sellers with oil at a key U.S. delivery point in Cushing, Okla., were paying buyers to take the stuff off their hands.
世界可能必须得习惯石油出现在奇怪的地方。由冠状病毒大流行引发大量原油供给过剩，以及由此导致的需求锐减，已使全球石油分销系统不堪重负。因缺乏石油储存空间导致的买家消失，让本周石油市场崩溃。在某一时刻，市场压力是如此之大，以至于美国石油的一个关键交割地，俄克拉荷马州的库欣地区，石油卖家需要付钱给买家，让买家把货从他们手里提走。
Global onshore storage facilities totaling 4.4 billion barrels are currently about 65% full, said Antoine Halff, chief analyst at Paris-based commodities-analysis company Kayrros. But he added that as of early April they were filling at a “monster rate” of 10 million barrels a day.
总部位于巴黎的大宗商品分析公司凯瑞斯的首席分析师安东尼·哈尔夫说，全球陆上储油设施总计44亿桶，目前约有65%是满的。但他补充说，自4月初起，油储设备就以每天1000万桶的“惊人速度”被装填着。
Absent a market, the oil industry is staring at financial disaster. More than 70 debt-burdened U.S. oil producers are now at risk of bankruptcy, according to oil consulting firm Rystad Energy. Analysts say roughly half of those are in Texas. Key oil producers Nigeria, Algeria, Iraq and Iran are either considering or seeking emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund, while others like Saudi Arabia are scrambling for ways to make savings.
由于市场缺位，石油行业正面临一场金融灾难。据石油咨询公司雷斯塔能源的数据，目前有70多家负债累累的美国石油生产商正面临破产风险。分析人士指出，其中大约有一半位于德克萨斯州。主要产油国尼日利亚、阿尔及利亚、伊拉克和伊朗正在考虑或寻求国际货币基金组织的紧急资金援助，而沙特阿拉伯等其他国家则在想方设法节省开支。
The scarcity of storage tanks and the unprecedented oil crash are directly correlated. Even would-be buyers looking to take advantage of bargains can’t jump because they have nowhere to put their purchases.
储油罐的短缺和前所未有的石油危机有直接关系。即使是想捡便宜的人也没办法抓住机会上车，因为他们没有地方存放购买的石油。
“A lack of physical storage is forcing oil-market economics to fall to shut-in levels,” says Jason Bordoff, a former Obama administration energy adviser, who is now the founding director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “Incredibly low prices that will continue for some time reflect the fact that supply needs to come off the market at an unprecedented rate and volume.”
前奥巴马政府能源顾问、现任哥伦比亚大学全球能源政策中心创始主任的贾森•博尔多夫表示:“缺乏实体储备空间正迫使石油市场经济跌至关停的水平。”“令人难以置信的低价将持续一段时间，这反映出一个事实，即供给需要以前所未有的速度和数量离开市场。”
本文节选自：The Wall Street Journal（华尔街日报）
发布时间：2020.04.25
作者：Benoit Faucon and Benoit Faucon
原文标题：Behind Oil-Market Gyrations: Few Places Left to Store Unwanted Crude
◆
词汇积累
1.squeeze
- 英 [skwiːz] 美 [skwiːz]
- n. 挤压；榨出的液体；压榨；紧握；拥挤；佣金；（可获得的钱、工作岗位等的）减少；（非正式）女朋友，男朋友；拥挤的社交*会集**；压模；（非正式）勒索的钱；（棒球）抢分战术v.挤；紧握；勒索；压榨；使挤进；（非正式）向……施加压力；（尤于金融或商业）破坏
2.onshore
- 英 [ˈɑːnʃɔːr] 美 [ˈɑːnʃɔːr]
- adj.向岸上的，向陆地的；陆上的；（风）吹向陆地的
3.barrel
- 英 [ˈbærəl] 美 [ˈbærəl]
- n. 桶；一桶（的量）；枪管，炮管；（马等四足动物的）躯干vt. 快速移动；把……装入桶内
4.scramble
- 英 [ˈskræmbl] 美 [ˈskræmbl]
- v.（迅速而吃力地）爬，攀登；争抢，抢占；艰难地完成，仓促凑成；匆忙穿（衣）；炒（蛋）；扰码，倒频（改变电话或无线电信号，听众只有通过专门设备才能收听）；扰乱（思维）；命令（飞机）紧急起飞；弄乱；不规则地生长n.（尤指需要手脚并用的）艰难行走，攀登；抢夺，争夺；摩托车越野赛；（战斗机）紧急起飞；混乱，混乱的一团
5.scarcity
- 英 [ˈskersəti] 美 [ˈskersəti]
- n.不足；缺乏
词组搭配
1.glut of crude 过剩的原油
2.take off 起飞、脱下、离开、拿走
◆
写作句总结
“Incredibly low prices that will continue for some time reflect the fact that supply needs to come off the market at an unprecedented rate and volume.”
结构：… at an unprecedent rate and volume.
以前所未有的速度和数量…
例句：During the outbreak, countries produced masks at an unprecedented rate and volume.