2006年VOA标准英语-OPEC Steadies Quotas Ahead of Iran Nuclear

By Marlene Smith
Vienna
08 March 2006

The Organization of Petroleum¹ Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided² to hold its output steady. The decision comes amid new threats from cartel member Iran to cut supplies. 

An Iraqi worker operates a valve at the oil pipeline³ near southern Iraqi city of Basra (File photo)  
  
OPEC ministers decided to play safe at their regular meeting in Vienna, aware that on the other side of the Danube a crucial debate on Iran's nuclear program could force a change. Despite record prices of around $60 per barrel, OPEC is keeping official output to 28 million barrels per day. Oil analyst⁴, Ehsan Ul-Haq of P.V.M. Oil Associates in Vienna says the cartel is faced with several uncertainties⁵ which make forecasts difficult.

"Because of geo-political considerations. In Nigeria more than 450,000 barrels per day of production is offline," he said. "In Ecuador there are problems regarding oil production. Nobody knows for certain what will happen in Iran."

Iran has threatened to use oil as a weapon if the IAEA refers its atomic program to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil supplier and has suffered outages this year because of rebel attacks.

Instability in Iraq is also a factor OPEC must consider. Experts say world oil demand should slow in the second quarter with warmer weather in the northern hemisphere and any cut now would be counter-productive. OPEC says it is committed to providing the market with oil at reasonable prices.

1 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 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。

4 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。

5 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告