美國宣佈釋放戰略石油儲備 意在何爲?

The US has announced the first “test” sale of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, in a move that underlines its ability to respond to any energy market turmoil as a result of the Ukrainian crisis.

美國宣佈將釋放戰略石油儲備(Strategic Petroleum Reserve)，進行1990年伊拉克入侵科威特以來首次石油“試銷”，此舉突顯美國有能力應對烏克蘭危機引發的任何能源市場動盪。

The Department of Energy described the planned release of up to 5m barrels of oil, less than 1 per cent of the 696m in the reserve, as intended “to assess the system’s capabilities in the event of a disruption”.

美國能源部(Department of Energy)稱，釋放至多500萬桶石油的計劃——不到6.96億桶儲備總量的1%——意在“評估發生中斷情況下的系統能力”。

The White House was not associating the release with the Crimean crisis. The energy department said the sale had long been planned for the time of year when refineries stock up for the summer driving

奧巴馬政府並沒有將此舉與克里米亞危機聯繫起來。能源部表示，此次試銷是早就在計劃之中的，眼下正是煉油廠面向夏季駕車高峯增加庫存的時候。不過，分析師們提出，宣佈24年來首次“試銷”，將向正在克里米亞蠢蠢欲動的俄羅斯發出一個信號。“此舉的時機使其看起來像是對着俄方發出的警告信號，”法國興業銀行(Société Générale)全球石油研究主管邁克爾•維特納(Michael Wittner)在紐約表示。

season. However, analysts suggested that the announcement of the first “test” sale in 24 years would send a signal to Russia following its move into Crimea. “The timing of this makes it seem like a warning shot across the bow towards the Russians,” said Michael Wittner, head of global oil research at Société Générale in New York.

被釋放的石油將是“高硫油”，與俄羅斯出口的相當大部分石油類似，這意味着這次試驗將評估系統應對俄羅斯供應中斷的準備就緒程度。

The oil to be released is “sour” – high in sulphur – like much of the oil exported from Russia, implying that the test will assess the system’s readiness to cope with a disruption of Russian supplies.

美國宣佈釋放戰略石油儲備之際，莫斯科與西方之間的緊張局勢升級，癥結是定於週日舉行的有俄羅斯撐腰的克里米亞獨立公投。

The US announced the oil release as tensions ratchet up between Moscow and the west over Sunday’s Russia-backed independence referendum in Crimea.

美國國務卿約翰•克里(John Kerry)警告莫斯科方面，如果俄羅斯不收手，針對該國的制裁將很快收緊。“如果作出錯誤的選擇，局面可能很快變得難看，”克里表示。

John Kerry, US secretary of state, warned Moscow of rapidly tightening sanctions if it did not back down. “It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made,” he said.

七大工業化國家集團(G7)發表聲明稱，克里米亞即將舉行的公投將既不合法，也“沒有道義力量”，因爲那裏已有俄軍部隊存在。G7警告，如果克里姆林宮企圖吞併克里米亞，將採取“進一步行動”。

The Group of Seven industrialised countries issued a statement saying the vote was both illegal and had “no moral force” because of the presence of Russian troops. They warned of “further action” if the Kremlin attempted to annex Crimea.

武力恫嚇升級的跡象之一是，據白俄羅斯媒體報道，克里姆林宮已同意派遣至多15架俄軍戰鬥機進駐白俄羅斯境內的基地，以反制北約(Nato)在波蘭和波羅的海國家加強的空中巡邏；五角大樓表示，將派遣12架F-16戰鬥機進駐波蘭。

In a sign of escalated sabre-rattling, Belarusian media said the Kremlin had agreed to send up to 15 Russian fighters to bases in Belarus to counter escalated Nato air patrols in Poland and the Baltics; the Pentagon said it would send 12 F-16 fighters to Poland.

儘管如此，美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)指示克里會晤俄羅斯外長謝爾蓋•拉夫羅夫(Sergei Lavrov)，以求避免在公投問題上徹底鬧翻。克里和拉夫羅夫定於明日在倫敦會面。