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1、Unit6 贫富有别，治国有道1 The sweet perfume wafting over northern Iraq does not come from the wildflowers that speckle its rumpled plains in spring. It is the smell of oil and it is everywhere, flaring at wellheads, sloshing from the tanker trucks that grind up potholed roads to backyard refineries in the Ku
2、rdish hills and fuming from their chimneys. Nor is this the oiliest part of Iraq. That lies in the deserts to the south where it literally seeps from the ground. In fact the whole of Iraq sits atop seams and pockets of the sticky stuff. There is plenty to go around, if only the Iraqis could agree to
3、 stop shooting each other.伊拉克北部的空气中弥漫的甜甜的芳香并非来自于春天里点缀着凌乱草地的野花，这种气味是由遍及这里每一寸土地的石油而散发开来的，而且随处可见开采井口冒着熊熊烈火，油罐车轧着崎岖的路面留下了一路的油渍，而它的目的地便是库尔德山间烟囱耸立的炼油厂。其实伊拉克最为盛产石油的地方还不是这里，而是位于通往南部的沙漠那里的石油简直是从地面直接渗出来的。假如这个国家族群之间的暴力争斗能够停止的话，那生活在液体黄金之上的全体伊拉克人民一定会过着安居乐业的生活。2 There is plenty for other Arabs, too. Taken togethe
4、r, their 19 countries hold some 46% of the worlds total proven oil reserves (as well as a quarter of its natural-gas reserves). The ones with the most have it doubly easy. Saudis or Kuwaitis spend just $3 to tap a barrel from their most accessible wells. Small wonder that their oilmen scoff at loomi
5、ng competition from Americas fancy frackers and shalers. The technical wizardry of the modern drilling techniques that may soon make America self-sufficient in energy can push the cost of extracting a barrel well beyond $100.其实，伊拉克富饶的燃料资源只是整个阿拉伯世界一个缩影。数据显示，全球 46%的石油探明储量（以及 1/4 的天然气储量）都位于 19 个阿拉伯国家的地
6、下，其中储量最多的那些国家更是轻而易举地就能获取石油资源。沙特和科威特最易开采石油的地方，其最低成本只需每桶 3 美元，这也就是为什么美国高端的水力压裂页岩油气技术人员带来了日趋激烈的竞争，而当地石油开采工人却还不以为然的原因。这种在美国人眼中的现代钻井技术可能在不久的将来，奇迹般地使美国成为一个能源自给的国家但是采用这一技术的开采成本却远远高于每桶 100 美元。3 The Arab worlds hydrocarbon riches are unevenly shared. Saudi Arabia alone holds the bulk of all reserves. Just ei
7、ght Arab countries have actually grown rich from energy exports, though some of them spectacularly so: in the tiny emirate of Qatar some 14% of households are dollar millionaires, a higher proportion than in any other country. Divided among its 250,000 citizens (the other 85% of Qatars population of
8、 2.1m are foreign workers), the tiny emirates GDP comes to $700,000 per person. Average incomes across the Arab Gulf states are around 50 times those in Yemen, Sudan and Mauritania.不过尽管阿拉伯地区富含烃类物质，然而分布并不均匀沙特阿拉伯一国就占据了巨额储量。事实上，阿拉伯国家中只有 8 个通过能源出口成功致富，不过其中仍有几国十分惹眼。酋长国卡塔尔国土面积很小，却有约 14%的家庭资产超过百万美元，这一比例可谓世
9、界之最。如果把该国的国内生产总值平分到 25 万本国国民手中，那每个人可以拿到 70 万美元（卡塔尔 210 万总人口中有 85%是外国工人） 。阿拉伯海湾国家的平均收入几乎是也门、苏丹和毛里塔尼亚的 50 倍。4 This may change. Poorer Arab states are not about to become new Qatars, but many, such as Yemen, Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt, already export oil or gas, and the lingering energy paupers are doing
10、 better too. Morocco, until now completely reliant on imports, pins high hopes on offshore exploration that is just getting under way. Its Atlantic shelf shares the same promising geology that oil companies in Mauritania are already exploiting. Much of this potential lode skirts the long coast of th
11、e Western Sahara, where sovereignty remains contested despite four decades of de facto Moroccan control. But there may be plenty in undisputed waters, too.但这一差距可能并不会永久地持续下去。一些较为贫穷的阿拉伯国家虽然并不太可能成为第二、第三个卡塔尔，但其中许多国家（如也门、突尼斯、苏丹和埃及）也已经开始出口石油天然气，而迟迟没有动作的那些富含能源的穷国也开始有所行动了。摩洛哥直到现在为止仍然完全依赖于能源进口，但她目前正在进行海上能源勘探
12、，并对该项工程抱有很大的希望。毛里塔尼亚的石油公司已经开始在其大陆架上开采能源，而摩洛哥伸向大西洋的大陆架也具有与毛里塔尼亚相似的地质条件。许多这些潜藏的矿脉都是沿着西撒哈拉长长的海岸线分布的。西撒哈拉的主权目前仍然存在争议，而摩洛哥在 40年间实际控制了这一地区。不过在没有争议的水域同样也存在着丰富的潜藏矿脉。5 Huge gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean also sprawl across maritime borders. Egypt has been tapping its patch for years, with Israel fol
13、lowing more recently. Lebanon has untangled itself from internal bickering. Some day Gaza should have a share of the crowded territorys only resource aside from people. Perhaps in the future the other part of Palestine, the West Bank, will also profit from the small deposits of crude oil that Israel
14、i firms have found under its hills. Even Jordan may at last be able to stop begging its neighbours for fuel. If oil prices hold steady above the $100 mark around which they have fluctuated in recent years, the shale oil that sits under 60% of Jordans surface will become commercially viable.地中海东部水域的大
15、型天然气田沿海蔓延。多年以来，埃及一直在这一水域钻井采气，而最近以色列也开始不甘落后、迎头赶上。黎巴嫩已经结束了国家内部喋喋不休的争论。有朝一日，加沙也应该会在人头济济的国土范围内分得一杯羹（当地除了人以外也就剩下燃料能源了） 。在巴勒斯坦的另一地区西岸，已经有以色列公司在其山地地下发现了少量原油储量，西岸可能未来也会从中受益。甚至约旦最终也可能不必再依赖于邻国的燃料供给。石油价格最近几年一直徘徊在 100 美元附近，如果能长期稳定在 100 美元水平之上的话，约旦 60%国土之下蕴藏的页岩油资源将会凸显出其商业价值不过这个“如果”非常重要。6 That is a big if. In 199
16、9 this newspaper speculated that oil prices might collapse to $5 a barrel. Instead they soared, peaking in 2008 at $145. The worlds current mix of political instability in oil-producing zones and surging demand from Asia leads some to think that despite expanding oil production worldwide, a wobbly balance between supply and demand might be maintained. But experience suggests that high prices sustained over long periods encourage massive investment in exploration and improved
