奥巴马支持扩大美国天然气出口

天之聪教育 2013-05-06 天之聪教育 237次

奥巴马支持扩大美国天然气出口

Obama backs rise in US gas exports

The Obama administration has signalled support for more plants to export liquefied natural gas, as the US embraces its surging energy production as a key new element of its national security policy.

奥巴马(Obama)政府暗示支持建设更多设施以出口液化天然气。目前美国正将日益飙升的能源产量视为国家安全政策的一个新要素。

Barack Obama said at the weekend the US was likely to be a net gas exporter by 2020, the strongest sign that the president is swinging his support behind higher energy sales overseas.

巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)上周末表示，到2020年，美国可能会成为天然气净出口国，这是一个最强烈信号，表明奥巴马支持扩大海外能源销售。

The Department of Energy is studying applications for new liquefied natural gas terminals, with approval of one in Texas likely within months. It would be only the second such approval granted for sales to countries without trade agreements with the US, such as Japan, the world’s largest importer of LNG.

美国能源部(Department of Energy)正在审核新的液化天然气厂的建设申请，可能会在几个月内批准德克萨斯州的一个天然气厂。这将仅仅是第二个获准向尚未与美国签订贸易协定的国家（如全球最大液化天然气进口国日本）销售天然气的出口终端。

The decision over new export terminals coincides with a White House rethink of energy policy, to give it an elevated place in US diplomacy.

有关新出口终端的决定，正值白宫反思其能源政策，提高其在美国外交中的地位。

“I’ve got to make an executive decision broadly about whether or not we export liquefied natural gas at all,” Mr Obama said in a speech in Costa Rica. “But I can assure you that once I make that decision, then factoring in how we can use that to facilitate lower costs in the hemisphere and in Central America will be on my agenda.”

“我必须就我国要不要出口液化天然气做出一项全面的行政决定，”奥巴马在哥斯达黎加的一次演讲中称，“但我可以向你们保证，一旦我做出这一决定，那么考虑我们如何利用这一决定降低西半球和中美洲的成本，将提上我的议事日程。”

The North American shale revolution over the past decade has unlocked large reserves of gas that were not previously accessible at commercially attractive rates. US gas prices have fallen to levels about one-third of the cost of LNG imported to Europe, and one-quarter of the cost of LNG in Asia, a development with the potential to upend global markets.

过去10年兴起的北美页岩气革命，以具有商业吸引力的价格释放了大量以往无法采掘的天然气储量。美国天然气价格已降至欧洲进口液化天然气价格的三分之一左右，亚洲液化天然气价格的四分之一，这一动态可能会颠覆全球市场。