Nearly every day, giant tankers carry 8 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯) to refineries (炼油厂) around the world. But after the recent bombing in Riyadh, energy analysts (分析家) are nervously reassessing(重新评估) the stability of supplies of crude from the oil kingdom.
Since oil prices are relatively high entering winter, Americans will notice any further problems in Saudi Arabia as they fill up their gas tank or pay for home heating oil. 76) The price for West Texas crude closed above $32 a barrel last week, the highest point since the beginning of October and up from about $25 a barrel last year at this time.The higher price of crude is already reflected in steeper costs than last season: home heating oil is up some 19 cents a gallon, and gasoline is 9 cents a gallon higher. “The only thing keeping prices above $25 a barrel is fear of terrorist (恐怖分子) activity,” says Dennis Gartman, publisher of the Gartman Letter, an influential political and economic newsletter. “77) All things being equal and if there are no terrorist attacks, these are very high prices.”
The US depends heavily on Saudi Arabia for oil. In terms of that arrangement, 78) one key concern, says Mr. Gartman, is the long distance that Saudi Arabia moves its oil to terminals (终点). “The pipelines are long and exposed as they move across the desert,” he says. “I don’t care how vigilant (警觉) you are, there are places that you are not defending.”
So far, however, there have been no attacks on the pipelines, producing areas, or terminals. The most recent attack was on a housing complex. But energy analysts are taking seriously such a target - more political than economic - particularly since 79) Saudi Arabia is the second-largest supplier of oil to the United States and represents one-third of all oil produced by OPEC (石油输出国组织).“(80) The problems should remind us how dependent we are on Saudi oil production,” says Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International in New York. “We have an interest in a stable Saudi Arabia.”
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All things being equal and if there are no terrorist attacks, these are very high prices.