VOA慢速英語: 石油價格下降對德州工人的利弊

Oil Price Drop Both Good and Bad for Texas Workers

石油價格下降對德克薩斯州工人的利弊

The sharp drop in world oil prices has led oil companies in the United States to dismiss thousands of workers. Some companies have also suspended new oil drilling and exploration projects. The drop in oil prices has also affected small service companies and even stores that do business with oil companies in big producer states like Texas. But the drop in oil prices has not been bad for everyone.

世界油價的急劇下降導(dǎo)致美國一些石油公司裁剪數(shù)千名工人。一些石油公司甚至?xí)和Ｐ掠吞锏你@井和勘探項目。石油價格下降同樣影響到一些小型服務(wù)公司和一些商店，這些商店跟大規(guī)模石油生產(chǎn)的州，比如德克薩斯州的石油公司有生意關(guān)系。然而，石油價格的下降并不是對所有人來說都是個壞消息。

Oil platform workers are often called roughnecks. In Texas, many roughnecks have lost their jobs because of the drop in oil prices. The effect of falling prices has been worse in states like Alaska and North Dakota. That is because production costs are higher there than they are in the Eagle Ford area of south-central Texas.

石油平臺的工人被稱為鉆工。在德克薩斯州，因為石油價格的下降，很多鉆工失去了自己的工作。在一些州諸如阿拉斯加州和北達(dá)科他州，石油價格下降的負(fù)面影響更大。因為這些州的石油生產(chǎn)成本比德克薩斯州鷹灘地區(qū)的成本要高。

Some oil drilling projects are working to keep their costs low. If the price of oil stays above $40 a barrel, they can still make a profit.

一些石油鉆井項目致力于保持低成本。如果石油價格保持在每桶40美元，那么他們?nèi)匀豢梢垣@利。

Adam Perdue is an economist at the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting. He has been studying the effect of falling oil prices in Texas.

亞當(dāng)·普度是休斯頓大學(xué)地區(qū)預(yù)測分析學(xué)院的經(jīng)濟學(xué)家。他在研究德州石油價格下降帶來的影響。

Mr. Perdue says oil company exploration and production budgets are being cut between 10 and 50 percent, with most of them being cut by a third. He says the city of Houston experienced five percent growth rates in recent years. He thinks the lower spending will affect the local economy.

普度稱石油公司的勘探和生產(chǎn)成本削減了10%到50%，其中大部分公司削減了三分之一。近些年，休斯頓經(jīng)歷了5%的增長。他認(rèn)為更低的開支會影響當(dāng)?shù)氐慕?jīng)濟。

"We're predicting that there's gonna be 20,000 fewer jobs than there would have been otherwise. So, we're still predicting growth in the Houston area; it's just gonna slow down to a more reasonable rate of about, or just under two percent."

“我們預(yù)測估計會減少2萬個工作崗位。但是我們預(yù)測在休斯敦地區(qū)會繼續(xù)增加。這一比例會放慢增幅到一個更合理的比例，或者說低于2%。”

The economic slowdown will affect companies that manufacture pipes and other equipment for oil exploration and production. It will also have an effect on trucking companies that supply sand and chemicals, and other small businesses that serve the energy industry.

經(jīng)濟增長放緩會影響一些制造管道和其他用來勘探石油和生產(chǎn)石油設(shè)備的公司。也會影響一些提供沙土和化學(xué)制品的運輸公司和其它一些服務(wù)于能源行業(yè)的小型公司。

But low oil prices are good for chemical companies. They use hydrocarbons found in oil to makefertilizer,plastic and other products. Adam Perdue says a new chemical plant project near Houston will provide jobs for many skilled workers.

但是石油價格降低對一些化工公司有利。他們使用石油中提煉出來的碳化氫生產(chǎn)肥料、塑料和其它產(chǎn)品。亞當(dāng)·普度表示休斯頓附近的新建化工廠會為很多技術(shù)工人提供一些工作崗位。

"A lot of these roughnecks that are gonna lose their jobs out there in the field are gonna be able to come home and, and, and get a welding job or a construction job."

“很多鉆工會失去工作，他們可以回家，找一份焊接工作或者建筑工作。”

He says oil industry experts believe prices will rise again in about six months when the oversupply of oil is reduced. Experts say the oversupply resulted from expanded production. But he says if those predictions are wrong and oil prices continue to fall, the economy of Houston and Texas will be hurt much more.

亞當(dāng)·普度說石油行業(yè)的專家相信再過六個月左右石油供應(yīng)過剩減少后，石油價格還會上升。但是他認(rèn)為這些預(yù)測都是錯誤的，石油價格會繼續(xù)下降，休斯頓和德克薩斯州的經(jīng)濟會遭受更多損失。

I'm Christopher Cruise.

我是克里斯托弗·格魯斯。

This report was based on a story from VOA Correspondent Greg Flakus in Houston. Christopher Cruise wrote the story in VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

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Words in this Story

roughneck – n. someone who works on an oil rig or at an oil well

fertilizer – n. a substance (such as manure or a special chemical) that is added to soil to help the growth of plants

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