沙特叫停1000億美元石油產能擴大計劃
Saudi Arabia halts oil expansion in spite of tight crude markets
Saudi Arabia has halted the $100bn expansion of its oil production capacity after reaching a target of 12m barrels a day as the kingdom believes that new oil sources will meet rising demand.
沙特阿拉伯在達到1200萬桶的石油日產能目標之後，停止了涉資1000億美元的擴大石油產能計劃，因為該國認為新增石油產出將可滿足不斷增長的需求。
Khalid al-Falih, chief executive of state-owned Saudi Aramco, said on Monday that pressure on Riyadh to raise its output capacity had “substantially reduced”, the clearest indication yet that the world’s top oil producer is not pushing ahead with an assumed expansion plan to 15m b/d by the end of 2020.
國有的阿美石油公司(Saudi Aramco)首席執行官哈立德-法力赫(Khalid Al Falih)周一表示，要求沙特提高產能的壓力已經“大為減弱”。這是迄今最清晰的信號，表明世界頭號產油國並不準備推進到2020年底將石油產能擴大到每日1500萬桶的計劃。
The comments put a cap at least temporarily on a $100bn expansion programme that started in the early 2000s when Saudi was able to produce about 8.5m b/d. The halt comes in spite of tightness in the market due to production disruptions in Libya, Syria and Yemen.
上述言論意味著，沙特始於本世紀初的1000億美元產能擴大計劃至少將暫時告一段落。該計劃啟動之時，沙特的石油日產能約為850萬桶。在沙特停止該計劃之際，由於利比亞、敘利亞和也門的石油生產發生中斷，石油市場正出現緊張。
Oil prices reached a two-year high of more than $125 a barrel earlier this year after the civil war broke in Libya but the cost of Brent, the global benchmark, has since fallen back to $105 a barrel due to the financial crisis.
今年早些時候，在利比亞爆發內戰之後，油價曾攀上兩年來最高水平，達每桶125美元以上，但其後由於受金融危機影響，全球基準的布倫特原油(Brent)回落至每桶105美元水平。
The oil market closely watches Saudi Arabia’s expansion programme because the country holds most of the global spare production capacity that acts as a cushion in case of production disruption. Riyadh boosted its output to 10m b/d this year, the highest in 30 years, to compensate for Libya.
石油市場密切關註沙特的產能擴張計劃，因為該國擁有全球最多的富餘產能，在遇到生產中斷的情況下能充當緩沖器。今年沙特就把石油日產量提高到1000萬桶這一30年最高水平，以彌補利比亞減產造成的缺口。
The International Energy Agency has over the last decade steadily cut its projection for Saudi oil production. Earlier this month, the watchdog said on its flagship World Energy Outlook that the kingdom would need to produce 12.6m b/d by 2030, compared with an estimate for the same year of 18m b/d published in 2005.
過去10年來，國際能源機構(IEA)一再下調其對沙特石油產量的預測。本月早些時候，IEA在其旗艦報告《世界能源展望》(World Energy Outlook)中表示，沙特到2030年的石油日產量需要達到1260萬桶，相比之下，該機構在2005年的相應預測為1800萬桶。
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