美国或将取消石油出口禁令

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.

奥巴马政府为围绕美国原油出口禁令展开激烈辩论做好了准备。为应对廉价原油所带来的影响，美国将允许将更多轻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.

上周的这项决定将把美国保持40年之久的出口禁令提上了政治议程，在一些人对页岩油生产的环境影响感到担忧之际，美国生产商与沙特阿拉伯围绕油价下跌所产生的紧张关系日益加剧。

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.

批评原油出口禁令的人士（包括石油行业高管以及一些共和党人）表示，这一上世纪70年代的一禁令已经过时，应该取消，因美国面临的是页岩油的供应过剩，这削弱了国际市场的需求，因其减少了美国对石油的进口。

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月以来，油价基准布伦特(Brent)原油价格已下跌逾一半，至每桶不到58美元，这正危及美国一些页岩油生产的经济前景。

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.

前美国财政部官员、现供职于Beacon Policy Advisors的斯蒂芬•迈洛(Stephen Myrow)表示，奥巴马政府正试图实现两个目标：鼓励扩大“凝析油”（通过基础蒸馏塔加工）产品的出口，但不宣布正式的政策转变。

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.

取消出口禁令可能会鼓励更多页岩投资，或者至少会抵消低油价所带来的负面影响。但环保主义者担心，甲烷气泄露正加剧全球变暖，页岩矿区会产生这种强烈的温室气体。

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.

美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在这个问题上行事谨慎，因为他希望在气候变化方面采取措施，但也一直称赞页岩热潮推动了经济增长并减轻了美国对外国石油的依赖。