首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
Prices are sky-high, with profits to match. But looking further ahead, the industry faces wrenching change, says an expert of en
Prices are sky-high, with profits to match. But looking further ahead, the industry faces wrenching change, says an expert of en
admin
2010-06-17
77
问题
Prices are sky-high, with profits to match. But looking further ahead, the industry faces wrenching change, says an expert of energy.
"The time when we could count on cheap oil and even cheaper natural gas is clearly ending." That was the gloomy forecast delivered in February by Dave O’Reilly, the chairman of Chevron Texaco, to hundreds of oilmen gathered for a conference in Houston. The following month, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez gleefully echoed the sentiment: "The world should forget about cheap oil."
The surge in oil prices, from $10 a barrel in 1998 to above $50 in early 2005, has prompted talk of a new era of sustained higher prices. But whenever a "new era" in oil is hailed, skepticism is in order. After all, this is essentially a cyclical business in which prices habitually yo-yo. Even so, an unusually loud chorus is now joining Messrs O’Reilly and Chavez, pointing to intriguing evidence of a new "price floor" of $30 or perhaps even $40. Confusingly, though, there are also signs that high oil prices may be caused by a speculative bubble that could burst quite suddenly. To see which camp is right, two questions need answering: why did the oil price soar? And what could keep it high?
To make matters more complicated, there is in fact no such thing as a single "oil price": rather, there are dozens of varieties of crude trading at different prices. When newspapers write about oil prices, they usually mean one of two reference crudes: Brent from the North Sea, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI). But when ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) discuss prices, they usually refer to a basket of heavier cartel crudes, which trade at a discount to WTI and Brent. All oil prices mentioned in this survey are per barrel of WTI
The recent volatility in prices is only one of several challenges facing the oil industry. Although at first sight Big Oil seems to be in rude health, posting record profits, this survey will argue that the western oil majors will have their work cut out to cope with the rise of resource nationalism, which threatens to choke off access to new oil reserves. This is essential to replace their existing reserves, which are rapidly declining. They will also have to respond to efforts by governments to deal with oil’s serious environmental and geopolitical side-effects. Together, these challenges could yet wipe out the oil majors.
选项
A、prices of oil and natural gas are very high
B、prices of oil and natural gas will not go down
C、oil and natural gas will keep sustained high prices
D、the world has forgotten about cheap oil
答案
C
解析
本题是简单推论题。根据第2段第1句"The time when we could count on cheap oil and even cheaper natural gas is clearly ending"可得出此答案。count on依靠,指望。选项A为事实情况;选项B太绝对,选项D不是believe的内容,所以正确答案为C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1i44777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
TheEconomistcalculatesthataroundtheworldalmost290million15-to24-year-oldsareneitherworkingnorstudying:almosta
TheEconomistcalculatesthataroundtheworldalmost290million15-to24-year-oldsareneitherworkingnorstudying:almosta
WritealettertoenquireatravelagencyaboutthetriptoMountTai.Somenecessarydetailsmustbeincluded.Youshouldwrite
Manyexpertsbelievethatinthenewworldofartificialintelligence(AI)humanbeingswillstillbeneededtodothejobsthat
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.You
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.You
UnderstandingwhatdistinguishespeoplewhobattlewithAlzheimer’sastheyagefromthosewhosementalacutenessremainsstrong
Textinghaslongbeenlamentedasthedownfallofthewrittenword,"penmanshipforilliterates,"asonecriticcalledit.Tow
Accordingtowhatyouhavejustsaid,amItounderstandthathisnewpost______noresponsibilitywithitatall?
随机试题
薄伽丘的代表作是短篇小说集【】
男性青年,19岁,右侧膝关节明显肿胀、疼痛就诊,X线显示骨皮质破坏,骨膜增厚,周围可见软组织影,并可见高密度影若上述诊断确立,其好发部位
唇边生疮,红肿疼痛是因()
(2009年)下列污化带中含氧量最低的是()。
检验检疫机构将出口商品生产企业分为三类,其中,一类企业,抽查批次不大于申请报验总批次的______;二类企业,抽查批次不大于申请报验总批次的______。()
对未成年人的监护人的设定包括()
根据《宪法》规定,下列选项中,全国人大常委会组成人员可兼任的职务有()。
“时间就是生命”,这是我们在生活中经常能够听到的话。在家中,父母经常说;在学校,老师经常说。可是,有多少人能够真正地去重视、去珍惜,像对待生命一样对待时间呢?在校园里,一位同学得了感冒,心里非常着急,连课都没上就去医院打针。为什么?因为他很珍惜
Letusbeginbysayingthatwhatdoesnotcauseourdreams.Ourdreamsdonotcomefrom"another"world.Theyarenotmessagesf
A、WhenIsawPackerforthefirst,hetoldmealotabouthimself.B、PackerhadbeenverysuccessfulwhenIsawhimfortheseco
最新回复
(
0
)