Why Oil Continues Its Climb

Why Oil Continues Its Climb
Unrest in oil-producing nations and the weak dollar are causes of the increase in oil prices. But increasing demand has not been met with new supplies. Transcript of radio broadcast:

08 May 2008

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report

The price of oil has risen to more than one hundred twenty dollars a barrel. Some experts say the most recent price increase is only the beginning. Experts at the investment bank Goldman Sachs have predicted that oil could reach two hundred dollars a barrel.

Unrest in oil producing countries has been partly to blame. Last weekend, a rebel group in Nigeria said it attacked an oil center in Bayelsa state. Nigeria is the eighth biggest oil exporter in the world.

Also, Iraq is slowly rebuilding its oil production ability. Iraq's industry minister says the country's oil production is currently at about two million barrels of oil a day. He says that could increase to five million barrels of oil a day in two to three years depending on how much foreign help Iraq receives.

The Venezuelan government's efforts to control its oil industry have increased tensions with foreign oil producers. And Russia, the world's second largest exporter, has also sought to increase government control of its energy resources. Nationalization of oil resources often forces out foreign investment that would normally seek to increase supplies.

Another cause of high oil prices is the weak American dollar. Oil is traded in dollars, so a less valuable dollar buys less oil. But, experts have noted that the weak dollar alone cannot explain the increase of about eighty-five percent in the price of oil over the last year.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is the world's largest oil producing group. It says its member nations, not including Iraq, are investing one hundred twenty billion dollars in over one hundred new oil projects. OPEC says it produces about forty-five percent of the world's oil exports.

In the past, non-OPEC producers like Russia, Mexico and Norway have increased production to meet demand. But these nations have struggled to keep production at the levels of recent years. Norway's production, for example, has decreased by twenty-five percent since two thousand one.

The expanding economies of Asia, especially China and India, have increased pressure on world supplies. Meeting demand appears to be harder than ever before.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts and archives are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

----------------------------Google Translate

为什么油价持续攀升，其
在动荡的石油生产国和美元疲软的原因是增加在石油价格。但日益增加的需求没有得到满足的新用品。全文电台广播：

2008年5月8日

这是美国之音特别英语经济学报告

石油价格已上升到超过120美元报收。一些专家指出，最近期的价格上涨仅仅是个开始。专家们在投资银行高盛曾预测，油价可能达到200美元报收。

不安的石油生产国已部分原因。上周末，叛乱集团在尼日利亚说，袭击了石油中心在巴耶尔萨州国家。尼日利亚是第八大石油输出国，在世界上。

此外，伊拉克正慢慢重建其石油生产的能力。伊拉克工业部长说，该国的石油生产目前正处于约200.0万桶石油的一天。他说，可能会增加至5万桶原油，每天在两至三年内，视乎有多少外国帮助伊拉克获得。

委内瑞拉政府的努力，控制其石油工业增加了紧张局势，与外国石油生产商。和俄罗斯，世界的第二大出口国，也设法增加政府控制其能源资源。国有化的石油资源往往势力出来的外国投资通常会设法增加供应。

另一个原因是高油价是一种弱的美国港元。石油是买卖的美元，因此，少了宝贵的美元买少油。但是，专家们指出，美元疲软，不能单靠解释增加约85 ％ ，石油价格在过去一年中。

该石油输出国家组织是世界上最大的石油生产集团。它说，它的会员国，不包括伊拉克在内，所投资的1200.00亿美元，超过100的新的石油项目。欧佩克说，它产生的约45 ％的世界石油出口。

在过去，非欧佩克生产者像俄罗斯，墨西哥和挪威已增加生产以满足需求。但这些国家的奋斗，使生产水平近年来。挪威的生产，例如，已减少了25 ％ ，自2000 1 。

不断扩大的经济体，亚洲特别是中国和印度，增加了压力，对世界的用品。满足需求似乎更难比以往任何时候都。

这是该美国之音特别英语经济学的报告，书面，由马里奥里特尔。誊本和档案是在voaspecialenglish.com 。我鲍勃doughty 。