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
外语
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family wil
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family wil
admin
2012-02-24
78
问题
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family will spend about $2,700 on gasoline this year (driving 22,000 miles). That’s twice as much as it spent on gas two years ago. These prices are having a predictable consequence. The consumer price index has risen by 4.9 percent to date, versus 1.9 percent last year. And last week President Bush’s economic adviser, Gregory Mankiw, acknowledged that a $10 rise in the price of oil probably translates into a half-percentage-point drag on economic growth. For countries like Japan, China and India, the effect is even greater. How did this happen? And can Washington—or anybody—to much about it?
The answer that flashed on our television screens is instability in the Middle East. Pipeline explosions in Iraq, tensions with Iran and terror attacks in Saudi Arabia all contribute to what analysts call the "security premium" on the price of oil. But that premium might be exaggerated. Oil prices are rising for broader, structural reasons. The world may have to get used to expensive oil.
The largest ingredient in current oil prices has been a massive increase in demand. This year’s growth is double what it has been for the past six years (on average). That’s because the United States is in recovery, Japan’s economy is finally back and Asia— particularly China and India—is growing fast. In fact, this year is likely to have the strongest global growth on record in three decades—unless oil prices choke it off.
While demand is up, supply can’t rise much. For a variety of reasons, almost no oil- producing country has "surplus capacity"—the ability to put substantially more oil into tile market. Oil companies have been slow to increase investments in production, and these expenditures take a few years to bear fruit. "Right now oil markets are tighter than they were on the eve of the 1973 oil shocks. And they will stay tight for the next two years. That makes the geopolitics of oil crucial," says Daniel Yergin, the chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
If there is trouble anywhere, it will probably cause an oil shock. And think of the possibilities—instability in Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia, Libya, Saudi Arabia or, of course, Iraq. Last year the markets could absorb the loss of Iraqi oil (during the war). This year they can’t. Iraq has to stay online. And all these other countries have to stay stable.
There is only one country with significant surplus capacity—Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has increased its production repeatedly over the past two years, or else prices would be higher still than they are. And the Saudis are making investments that will increase their surplus capacity by the end of the year. In a tight oil market, Saudi Arabia is the pivotal player.
Consider the irony. One of the Bush administrations (privately stated) reasons for going to war in Iraq was to reduce our dependence on Saudi Arabia’s oil power. It was a reasonable idea. But having botched the occupation, with Iraqi oil more insecure now than before the war, America is today more dependent on Saudi Arabia than ever before. Fortunately the Saudi regime has proved a responsible and reliable player, in this realm. "The Saudis are the central bankers of the world of oil. And they take that role seriously," says Yergin.
What to do about’ this new reality? George Bush proposes to increase U. S. production in Alaska. John Kerry calls for increased conservation. Bush is correct to argue that some increase in American production is important. In 1973, the United States imported one third of its oil from abroad. Today it imports two thirds. And exploration does not have to be ecologically devastating. Even if the major oilfields that are assumed to exist there were discovered in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, only a few thousand acres of the 19 million-acre refuge would be affected.
But the more lasting solution to America’s oil problem has to come from energy efficiency. American demand is the gorilla fueling high oil prices—more than instability or the rise of China or anything else. Between 1990 and 2000, the global trade in oil increased by 9.5 billion barrels. Half of that was accounted for for the rise in U. S. imports.
America is consuming more because it is growing more—but also because over the past two decades, it has become much less efficient in its use of gasoline, the only major industrial country to slide backward. The reason is simple: three letters—SUV. In 1990 sport utility vehicles made up 5 percent of America’s cars. Today they make up 55 percent. They violate all energy-efficiency standards because of an absurd loophole in the law that allows them to be classified as trucks.
Bashing the Saudis is easy these days. Controlling our own wastefulness is more difficult. But making no mistake as to which one will make a difference.
What can be inferred from the passage?
选项
A、The oil price will fall when peace is restored in the Middle East.
B、The oil price is unlikely to fall down.
C、Increased production in Alaska will help the oil price down.
D、The oil price would not rise if America did not go to war in Iraq.
答案
B
解析
作者认为造成油价上涨的主要原因不是中东地区的不安定局势,而是需求量的增加,尤其是法律将SUV划为卡车,法律是不能轻易被改变的,由此判断,今后的石油价格不太可能降下来。故选项A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/t7YO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、Tellingjokes.B、Fallingasleepduringmeals.C、Stayinglateafterclass.D、Eatinginthecafeteria.C
IntheAustralianstateofNewSouthWales,agovernmentsponsorsurveyrevealedsomeshockingstatisticsregarding【1】_
Bytheyear2000nearlyhalftheworkforcewillbeover40andyetthroughoutEuropethereisadeepambivalence—ifnotoutfight
Haveyoueverthoughtofthesimilaritiesbetweenthecinemaandthetheatre?Thecinemahaslearntagreatdealfromthetheat
Inaperfectlyfreeandopenmarketeconomy,thetypeofemployer—governmentorprivate-shouldhavelittleornoimpactonthee
TheSkillsofEssayWritingWritingcanhelpyoutogetyourthoughtsclear,toexploresomeofyourideasandto【1】yourself
Americaneconomistsoncespoofeduniversityeducationastheonlyindustryinwhichthosewhoconsumeitsproductdonotpurchas
Prefer(i)Preferisnormallyfollowedbyto,notthan:"1prefercoffeetotea","Shepreferredsewingtoknitting","Wepre
HenryFielding,thefamousnovelistwhowasalsoaLondonmagistrate,oncemadeanightraidtotwoknownhideoutsinthis【M1】_
DemographyisthestatisticalstudyofhumanpopulationItcanbea-generalsciencethatcanbeappliedtoanykindofdynamicp
随机试题
男,45岁,近两个月出现肝区疼痛,乏力,消瘦明显,消化不良,腹胀,食欲减退,无黄疸。查体:肝于有肋下可触及3.0cm,移动性浊音(-),诊断肝癌对诊断有重要意义的实验室检查是
某企业依法向法院申请破产,经法院审理发现破产申请受理时该企业尚欠债权人之一甲公司150万元货款,欠当地工商银行贷款1,200万元,贷款时曾提供该企业的l套房产作抵押,该房产现值800万元。该企业曾为乙公司向当地建设银行一笔300万元的贷款作为连带保证人,现
代理人根据人民法院或者指定机关的指定而进行的代理是()。
2004年某中外合资饭店中方单位出具土地使用权,外方出资500万元作为注册资本合作兴办。(1)2004年获利60万元,外商投资者将分得的税后利润20万元购买另一投资者的股权;(2)2005年获利50万元。外商投资者将分得的税后利润20万元增
某位教师对《定义与命题》一课设计如下:一、情境引入以生活情境引入,让学生感受生活中的命题有正确和不正确之分。教师组织播放课件并提出问题,学生独立思考并回答问题。二、探究新知1.教师组织每一位同学先写出一个数学命题,然
设有一个10阶的下三角矩阵A(包括对角线),按照从上到下、从左到右的顺序存储到连续的55个存储单元中,每个数组元素占1个字节的存储空间,则A[5][4]与A[0][0]的地址之差为()。
魏巍在《我的老师》一文中提道:“我们见了她(蔡老师)不由得就围了上去。即使在她写字的时候,我们也默默地看着她,连她握笔的姿势都急于模仿。”这一叙述体现了学生的()特点。
创造力测验的方法有哪些()
在考生文件夹下,打开公司销售数据库selldb,完成如下简单应用:使用一对多表单向导生成一个名为sdedit的表单。要求从父表dept中选择所有字段,从子表st表中选择所有字段,使用“部门号”建立两表之间的关系,样式为阴影式;按钮类型为图片按钮;排
MostpeoplewouldbeimpressedbythehighqualityofmedicineavailabletomostAmericans.Thereisalotofspecialization,a
最新回复
(
0
)