美國或將取消石油出口禁令
The Obama administration has set the stage for a fierce debate over a US ban on crude oil exports by allowing more overseas sales of lightly processed oil as it grapples with the consequences of cheap crude.
奧巴馬政府爲圍繞美國原油出口禁令展開激烈辯論做好了準備。爲應對廉價原油所帶來的影響，美國將允許將更多輕加工石油出口到海外。Last week’s decision will push the US’s 40-year-old export ban up the political agenda as environmental concerns over shale production crosscut with rising tensions between US producers and Saudi Arabia over the falling price of oil.
上週的這項決定將把美國保持40年之久的出口禁令提上了政治議程，在一些人對頁岩油生產的環境影響感到擔憂之際，美國生產商與沙特阿拉伯圍繞油價下跌所產生的緊張關係日益加劇。
Critics of the crude export ban — including oil industry executives and some Republicans — say it is a 1970s anachronism that should be scrapped as the US faces a glut of shale oil, which has undercut the global market by reducing US import needs.
批評原油出口禁令的人士（包括石油行業高管以及一些共和黨人）表示，這一上世紀70年代的一禁令已經過時，應該取消，因美國面臨的是頁岩油的供應過剩，這削弱了國際市場的需求，因其減少了美國對石油的進口。
The benchmark Brent crude price has more than halved since June to under $58 per barrel and now threatens the economic viability of some US shale production.
自去年6月以來，油價基準布倫特(Brent)原油價格已下跌逾一半，至每桶不到58美元，這正危及美國一些頁岩油生產的經濟前景。Stephen Myrow, a former Treasury official now at Beacon Policy Advisors, said the Obama administration was seeking to achieve two goals by encouraging more exports of a product called oil condensate, which has been processed through a basic distillation tower, but not announcing a formal policy change.
前美國財政部官員、現供職於Beacon Policy Advisors的斯蒂芬•邁洛(Stephen Myrow)表示，奧巴馬政府正試圖實現兩個目標：鼓勵擴大“凝析油”（通過基礎蒸餾塔加工）產品的出口，但不宣佈正式的政策轉變。Ending the export ban could encourage more shale investment or at least offset the discouraging effects of the low oil price. But environmentalists worry that global warming is being exacerbated by leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from shale sites.
取消出口禁令可能會鼓勵更多頁岩投資，或者至少會抵消低油價所帶來的負面影響。但環保主義者擔心，甲烷氣泄露正加劇全球變暖，頁岩礦區會產生這種強烈的溫室氣體。President Barack Obama is treading carefully on the issue because he wants to make action on climate change part of his legacy, but has also celebrated the shale boom for spurring economic growth and reducing US dependence on foreign oil.
美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)在這個問題上行事謹慎，因爲他希望在氣候變化方面採取措施，但也一直稱讚頁岩熱潮推動了經濟增長並減輕了美國對外國石油的依賴。
