VOA标准英语2009年-Mexico Hopes to Revive Oil Production in New Fi

Mexico has announced the allocation of more than 170 new sites for oil and gas development in an area in the country's northeast region. This comes at a time when production at the country's main field is falling dramatically, leading some analysts² to say that the oil exporter could become an oil importer within five years. At least one Mexican governor is disputing that grim vision and calling for more investment in energy development.
　
Veracruz state Governor Fidel Herrera Beltran, 26 Feb 2009

Coming before an audience of energy industry representatives and academics at Rice University's Baker³ Institute for Public Policy, the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state, Fidel Herrera Beltran, hailed the new opening in his nation's oil sector⁴.

"It is a great time to invest in Mexico in areas that were closed or not open before," said Fidel Herrera Beltran.

Beltran said an energy reform bill passed by the Mexican Congress last year after heated debate has opened the way to some limited partnerships⁵ with foreign companies in Mexico's oil and gas fields. The Mexican constitution establishes all energy resources as state owned and, until now, the government-owned oil company, Pemex, has offered only contract work to outside companies.

But Mexico's situation has changed in recent years as production at its main field, called Cantarell, has declined. Since Pemex lacks the technology to explore and develop deep-water fields, some international experts have said the country's oil exporting days were coming to an end.

But, in a VOA interview, Governor Beltran hailed the development of newly discovered oil deposits in Chicontepec in his state that may offset⁶ the decline in other fields.

"The acknowledged amount of oil and gas is about four times what we had in Cantarell," he said. "So that at the same time Cantarell is running out, Chicontepec will be taking off. Not only in the continental⁷ area, but also offshore⁸ drilling is at this very moment taking place."

But the recent reform does not allow joint⁹ partnerships with private oil companies just yet and that may complicate¹⁰ the Chicontepec investment picture. Beltran says state-owned companies like Brazil's Petrobras may be among the first invited in to help Mexico develop its assets.

"Mexico is now open to joint ventures with other state-owned oil companies such as Petrobras," said Beltran. "In the offshore drilling, we will necessarily have partners to do that. Certain areas of the oil chain are open to investment to bring in through Pemex or with Pemex technology and investment."

But most international oil analysts are not as optimistic about Mexico's plans to develop new fields. Some still believe the country will have trouble meeting its own rapidly rising demand for oil and soon become a minor¹¹ exporter.
　
Amy Jaffe, 26 Feb 2009

Baker Institute energy analyst¹ Amy Jaffe, who helped organize Thursday's conference on energy policy in Latin America, says much depends on what Mexican political leaders do next.

"I think the fundamental principle is what becomes Mexican government policy," said Amy Jaffe. "Because we have seen over the last few years the lack of ability for the government to reform Pemex and to come up with a productive system for investment."

Jaffe says that if the initial, limited reform passed last year is not followed by more substantive¹² reforms and a clear opening to outside investment, Mexico could cease being an oil exporter and even become an oil importer to meet its own domestic needs.

"That is going to have severe fiscal¹³ consequences for the government and maybe that will help focus peoples' minds on why reform is necessary," she said.

Mexico is currently one of the top oil exporters to the United States, but Mexicans pay more at the gasoline pump than their neighbors across the border because Mexico lacks refinery¹⁴ capacity and sends much of its crude to other countries to be refined.

Governor Beltran says Mexico is on the right path to reforming its energy sector and is also developing a variety of other sustainable energy sources including ethanol from sugar cane¹⁵, geothermal and wind power.

1 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。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

7 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

8 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

11 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

12 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

13 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

14 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

15 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。