VOA标准英语2010年-Reports Indicate Growing Iranian Fuel

A top Iranian oil official is saying Monday that Tehran is not having problems purchasing gasoline supplies, despite tough new U.N., U.S. and EU economic sanctions.  Reports from both inside and outside Iran, however, indicate the Iranian government is struggling to cope with gasoline shortages. There have been scattered¹ reports of long fuel lines and increasing prices.

Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's envoy² to OPEC, insisted Monday that new U.N., U.S. and EU economic sanctions "have not created any obstacles in [Iran's] procuring³ gasoline."

Mohammad Royanian, the head of Iran's national committee for transportation and fuel management, also denied over the weekend that fuel prices had risen.  He says that essentially⁴ the (official) subsidized price of fuel, as well as quotas⁵, have not changed, and that they will not change until the government decides to implement⁶ the project of targeted subsidies⁷.  Royanian added that talk of different prices now circulating is just a rumor⁸.

Although Iran is the second largest oil-exporting nation in OPEC, its refining capacity has long been crippled due to deteriorating⁹ infrastructure¹⁰ and lack of investment.  For this reason, Tehran must import about one third of its domestic gasoline supplies.

Recent reports, however, indicate that U.N. sanctions imposed in June, along with unilateral U.S. sanctions, have prompted many of Iran's traditional suppliers of gasoline to curtail¹¹ sales to Tehran.  France's Total and Russia's Lukoil, along with suppliers from Malaysia, India and China, all have cut or reduced fuel sales in recent weeks.

Meir Javedanfar, of the MEEPAS Center in Tel Aviv, says that even Turkey, which has maintained friendly ties with Iran, is now charging more for its gasoline exports to its neighbor.  "According to a recent Reuters report, Iran is now paying 25 percent above market prices for the purchase of gasoline from Turkey," said Javedanfar. "So, not only is Iran having less gasoline, it's having to pay more for its existing supplies from other countries."

Houchang Hassan-Yari, who teaches political science at Canada's Royal Military College, says that he has seen many videos of long lines in front of gas stations inside Iran, in addition to hearing similar stories from friends inside the country.  "It seems that people are panicking, and also despite the fact that the government tries to reassure¹² them, the reality is that access to petroleum¹³ is not the same as before," said Hassan-Yari.

Hassan-Yari adds that he has seen unconfirmed reports that free market prices for gasoline in Iran have nearly doubled from around 40 cents a liter to around 80 cents.  That, he argues, is going to affect all sectors¹⁴ of the Iranian economy.

"When gasoline prices jump, it's going to immediately affect transportation in Iran," said Hassan-Yari.  "For example, sending goods from one point to the other is going to be affected¹⁵; it's going to affect the work of farmers; it's going to affect the price when people go to stores.  It impacts people's movement in Iran, and ultimately it's going to put pressure on the government."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted several weeks ago that international sanctions were not affecting the country's gasoline supplies and vowed¹⁶ that supplies would, in fact, increase.  Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami also said last month that Tehran would spend $26 billion to build new refineries¹⁷.

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 procuring   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• He was accused of procuring women for his business associates. 他被指控为其生意合伙人招妓。 来自辞典例句
• She had particular pleasure, in procuring him the proper invitation. 她特别高兴为他争得这份体面的邀请。 来自辞典例句

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

9 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

12 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

13 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。

14 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

17 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。