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
Judging by the $23 billion it earned last year, these should be the best of times for Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant that r
Judging by the $23 billion it earned last year, these should be the best of times for Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant that r
admin
2010-02-22
63
问题
Judging by the $23 billion it earned last year, these should be the best of times for Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant that ranks third among the top five Western oil companies. But Wall Street isn’t celebrating. Instead, analysts are worried that buried beneath the record profit figures are worrying signs of a business in decline.
That’s because Shell hasn’t been able to find nearly as much oil and gas as it’s now pumping out of the ground. In fact, it hasn’t even come close—replacing only 60% to 70% of what it produced in 2005 and only 19% in 2004. Shell has had reserve problems for years—a controversy over improperly booked assets forced it to reduce estimated reserves by roughly 30% and led to the resignation of its CEO, Phil Watts, in 2004. But what’s troubling now is that Shell is falling way behind rivals like Exxon and BP despite spending billions more each year on exploring and drilling new wells. Last year Exxon replaced 112% of production; BP came up with 95%. "I have never seen anything like this," says Fadel Gheit, a veteran energy analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. "Shell used to represent the gold standard in this industry, but lately they can’t get their act together."
To be sure, Shell still has huge assets—nearly 12 billion barrels. But in the oil and gas industry, reserve replacement is the best guide to whether a company will be able to maintain-or grow-production in the future. So not replacing what you pump, says longtime industry observer Matthew Simmons, "is like eating your seed corn. If you’re not finding new oil, you’re just liquidating what you’ve got." Indeed, Shell’s daily production figures have been weak lately, falling 6.7 % in 2005, to 3.52 million barrels a day.
Privately, Shell execs say the company’s decision to cut spending for exploration when oil prices bottomed out in the late 1990s is partly to blame for the anemic numbers now. Shell CEO Jeroen Vander Veer insists that projects like those on Sakhalin Island off Siberia and in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico will enable the company to start catching up with peers in the years ahead. It won’t be easy. "If you’re not adding to reserves, you have a problem," says Sanford Bernstein analyst Oswald Clint. "Shell will have to run twice as hard just to stay in place."
选项
A、is a hidden process.
B、is caused by the profit last year.
C、is the estimation of Wall Street.
D、is the fault of the CEO.
答案
C
解析
推理判断题。根据题干中的Shell定位至首段。开篇指出Shell公司的辉煌成绩:去年赚了230亿美元。第二句话锋一转:华尔街却不为此欣喜。末句对此说明:分析家们担心在这项破纪录的利润数字后面隐藏着生意下滑的不妙前景。由此可知壳牌公司生意滑坡是华尔街分析家们做出的预测。"a hidden process"是对末句中buried beneath的解释,但这里说的只是一种推断而已,并非已经确定的过程,hidden process的含义是虽然看不见,但确实存在,这与原意不符。第二段首句提到Shell生意可能下滑的原因:没有找到足够多的石油和天然气,排除"caused by the profit last year"。第二段第三句提到壳牌CEO Phil Watts于2004年辞职,这是由于前面提到的壳牌多年来存在的问题,这与首段分析家们对该公司生意下滑的预测无关,排除"the fault of the CEO"。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/5I44777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
[A]Getlegalhelp[B]Reviewtherules[C]Actfirst[D]Makeanoffer[E]Seekoutsidehelp[F]Watchoutforoneanother[G]
Doyousometimesreceiveanonymouscallsormassages,notknowinghowthosepeoplegetyournameandphonenumber?Inthissecti
Writeanessaybasedonthechart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)describethediagram,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshould
Thereisalotofimportedmerchandiseavailableinourmarket.Somepeopleadvocatethatweshouldonlybuythingsthataremad
Writealettertothepresidentofyouruniversityto1)suggesthowtoimprovestudents’physicalcondition,and2)includet
Theworldisonthetopofastaggeringriseinthenumberofoldpeople,andtheywilllivelongerthaneverbefore.【C1】_______
Yourcameraissnatched.Willyoueverseeita-gain?Probablynot.Butitmaysendpostcardsfromitsnewowner.The【C1】_______
Fordecadesthemarketforexpensiveheadphoneswasmainlylimitedtohi-fifans.But【C1】________theboxystereosysteminthec
Fordecadesthemarketforexpensiveheadphoneswasmainlylimitedtohi-fifans.But【C1】________theboxystereosysteminthec
Scientificadvancessometimescomeaslightningflashesofinspiration.Butwhenscientistssitdowntorecordandtakecredito
随机试题
阿司匹林不可用于
引发口疮的主要原因是
工程勘察资质和工程设计资质考核时,( )供资质考核备用。
社会工作实务的知识基础应是封闭型的。()
《义务教育数学课程标准(2011年版)》将原课程标准中的数学课程的总目标中的“双基”改为“四基”。请问“四基”指的是哪四基?
具有促进铁吸收功能的是()。
儿童在早期生活中,除亲子关系之外在同龄伙伴中建立的社会关系属于()
有人打你的小报告,你怎么办?
B-ISDN的业务类型中,__________是指在用户间或用户与主机间提供双向信息交换的业务。
在考生文件夹下,打开文档word.docx,按照要求完成下列操作并以该文件名(word.docx)保存文档。【文档开始】可怕的无声环境科学家曾做过一个实验,让受试者进入一个完全
最新回复
(
0
)