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  3. On America’s Gulf coast, massive industrial facilities stand idle. Miles of twisting stainless-steel pipes and huge storage tank

On America’s Gulf coast, massive industrial facilities stand idle. Miles of twisting stainless-steel pipes and huge storage tank

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问题     On America’s Gulf coast, massive industrial facilities stand idle. Miles of twisting stainless-steel pipes and huge storage tanks gleam uselessly in the sun. They are a reminder of the hundreds of billions of dollars that America has invested in terminals for handling imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to the boom in domestic shale gas, those imports are no longer needed. America produces nearly as much gas as it consumes, and will soon produce far more.
    So the obvious thing to do with those idle terminals is to re-engineer them to handle exports. Instead of receiving shiploads of liquefied gas and re-gasifying it, they should be taking American gas, liquefying it and loading it onto tankers. Converting these plants will not be cheap—each one will cost at least $5 billion. But the potential rewards are much larger.
    In America gas sells for around $3.40 per million British thermal units (mBTU). In Europe it costs around $12. In gas-poor Asia, spot cargoes change hands for as much as $20 per mBTU. Since it costs roughly $5 per mBTU to liquefy the stuff, ship it and turn it back into gas, America could be making a fortune from gas exports. To the extent that such exports displaced dirty coal, they would also help curb global warming.
    Most of America’s two dozen LNG import terminals have applied for export licences. Yet only one, Sabine Pass in Louisiana, has actually started retooling its kit. Gas from there will start flowing onto global markets by the end of 2015. Why has every other terminal been so slow to seize this opportunity?
    Converting a plant is not easy: firms must build now upon row of expensive fridges, known as "liquefaction trains", to get gas moving in the opposite direction. But the real hold-up is political. No LNG facility besides Sabine has yet received permission to export. American law requires the Department of Energy to determine whether gas exports are in the public interest, and President Barack Obama’s administration is in no hurry to make up its mind.
America can earn a great fortune by ______.
选项 A、gas imports
B、gas exports
C、imports of oil
D、exports of coal
答案B
解析 根据题干可以定位到第三段第三行：America could be making a fortune from gas exports.很容易得出答案为选项B。
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