VOA慢速英语-Economics Report - Throwing Light on High Oil Prices

Some blame speculators for recent increases, but others see market supply and demand at work. The I.M.F. will investigate.
19 June 2008

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

First a crisis, then calls to investigate. This is happening now with high oil prices.
　

The New York Mercantile Exchange began trading oil futures1 in 1983

Last Saturday, in Japan, finance ministers of the Group of Eight countries urged oil producing countries to increase production. But they also called on the International Monetary² Fund and the International Energy Agency to jointly³ examine the recent price rise.

I.M.F. chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that some G-Eight ministers were concerned about financial speculation⁴. How important it is and what influence it has on the market will be investigated, he says. A report is expected in October.

In the United States, government agencies are already looking for ways to increase supervision⁵ of oil markets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission just reached an agreement with a London electronic exchange, ICE Futures Europe. ICE, the Intercontinental Exchange, agreed to observe the same trading limits as American markets. Some people have called ICE Futures Europe a "dark market," a market with little supervision.

Regulators want to know more about who is trading in oil futures. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a quantity of a product at a set price and date in the future. The New York Mercantile Exchange began trading oil futures in nineteen eighty-three.

Futures markets now largely set the price of oil. Yet these contracts rarely involve an exchange of real barrels of oil. Most oil is traded on what is called the spot market or through other contracts between producers and users. The prices, however, are usually based on futures prices.

Doug MacIntyre is senior oil analyst⁶ with the United States Energy Information Administration. He notes that the position of the government is that market forces of supply and demand are driving today's high oil prices. But he also notes that more money has been going into futures.

This money can be from oil producers and users. But it also comes from banks, big investors⁷ called hedge funds and speculators with no need for oil. Speculators try to guess the direction a market will go; in some cases they profit when prices drop.

Treasury⁸ Secretary Henry Paulson and others say it is not clear that speculators are to blame for high oil prices. They say markets need buyers and sellers willing to take more risk than average investors. But critics say oil prices have gone up too quickly recently to be explained by supply and demand alone.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 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。