Russia lowers its oil prices after buyers self-sanction

 

Russia lowers its oil prices after buyers self-sanction

Transcript¹

Sanctions against Russia have so far steered² clear of Russian oil. But some companies are self imposing³ sanctions anyway.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There have been so many different kinds of sanctions imposed on Russia, on the elites⁴ there, banks, technology. So far, though, sanctions have steered clear of Russian oil. But as Sarah Gonzalez with our Planet Money podcast reports, some companies are imposing their own sanctions anyway.

SARAH GONZALEZ, BYLINE⁵: The U.S. has been reassuring⁶ banks and insurance companies and shipping⁷ companies and any brokers⁸ that work with oil that they can keep doing oil business with Russia, that they would not be violating sanctions.

RACHEL ZIEMBA: The Treasury⁹ Department actually reiterated¹⁰ that.

GONZALEZ: Rachel Ziemba is a fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Her focus is on oil-exporting countries and coercive economic policies, so sanctions. And she says the U.S. made these special exceptions for oil because hitting oil would be horrible for the world. Russia is one of the world's biggest oil exporters. So no one wanted to mess with that. But then oil started getting hit in another way.

ZIEMBA: We are seeing this buyer's strike, what in the marketplace we've been calling self-sanctioning - this reluctance¹¹ to take on Russian barrels of oil.

GONZALEZ: Big oil companies, like BP, Exxon, they started self-sanctioning on their own, ending their relationships with Russia. A whole bunch of oil buyers have stopped buying Russian oil.

ZIEMBA: We're now at a point where several million barrels a day of Russian oil are not being purchased. And that's pretty unique.

GONZALEZ: OK. Oil is usually sold at auctions¹³. And Ziemba says normally, you'd have utilities and refineries¹⁴ bidding at these auctions for Russian oil. But millions of barrels of Russian oil up for auction¹², likely intended for European buyers, haven't gotten any bids.

ZIEMBA: Russian oil ready to go through the pipeline¹⁵ that European buyers aren't purchasing.

GONZALEZ: So now Russia is cutting its oil prices, like, come on, who wants this oil for cheap? Ziemba says Russian oil is selling for about $20 less a barrel than all the other oil of the world. Someone's going to buy that oil eventually.

ZIEMBA: Someone will. Someone will.

GONZALEZ: Yeah. India bought some, and China. And, Ziemba says, the rest of the world probably won't be able to hold out for that long. There's just a lot of demand for oil. And so it will remain a big source of income for Russia. Russia makes hundreds of billions of dollars a year in energy exports, which is a pretty good cushion when it's under so much economic pressure.

ZIEMBA: Russia could survive with some of these revenues for a long period of time. I mean, we've seen other countries, such as Iran and even Venezuela, hold out for quite a long time on sanctions.

GONZALEZ: And those countries have less oil revenues coming in. But getting by on energy money alone is not going to be easy.

ZIEMBA: The Russian economy would shrink. And it would be a much lower level of development and consumption. And so they could survive. But it wouldn't look pretty.

GONZALEZ: The average Russian will feel the effects most.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Gonzalez.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRE DILLA'S "UBUD SUN")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

4 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

7 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

8 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

11 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

12 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

13 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

14 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。