双语新闻：中国如今依然需要美国这个能源伙伴

2014-07-08 16:15:15来源：可可英语

　　A better idea is for China to crack open shale oil and gas reserves at home, which are enormous. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that Chinese gas reserves could be almost one and a half times those of the United States. Yet to date China has dug fewer than 200 shale-gas wells, compared to 40,000 dug in the U.S.

　　对中国来说，更好的方案是开发本国巨大的页岩油气储量。据美国能源情报署( Energy Information Administration，简称：EIA)估计，中国天然气储量几乎是美国的1.5倍。但迄今为止，中国页岩气井数量不足200口，而美国有4万口。

　　Why hasn't China seen the kind of shale revolution that has turned the U.S. into the world's biggest natural gas producer, and will make it the biggest oil producer by 2020?

　　为何中国没有看到使美国成为全球最大天然气生产国的页岩革命?而且到2020年，美国还将成为全球最大石油生产国。

　　Part of the problem is geology. China's shale is heavily mixed with clay, unlike the brittle bedrock that surrounds American shale. China's is also buried deeper, and some deposits may contain lethal contaminates like hydrogen sulfide.

　　其中一个原因是地质问题。中国页岩掺杂大量粘土，而美国页岩则由比较脆的基岩包裹。中国页岩埋藏较深，有些矿藏还可能含有致命污染物，如硫化氢。

　　There's also geography. China's biggest shale gas fields are in Sichuan province, which is densely populated, unlike North Dakota or West Texas. And Sichuan can't spare the tremendous amount of water that American-style fracking demands.

　　还有地理方面的问题。中国最大页岩气田位于人口稠密的四川省，而不是像美国，位于人口较少的北达科他或西德克萨斯。四川也没有那么多水供美式压裂法之用。

　　But the biggest problem is the Chinese government. The country's major energy companies are state-owned and naturally get most contracts whether they have the expertise or not. There is little opportunity for homegrown startups to introduce innovation that would address the technical obstacles. And given China's legal system, there are no guarantees that an individual investor in such projects would get his money back.

　　但最大的问题还在于中国政府。中国大型能源企业都是国有企业，无论是否具备相应能力都自然能获得最多的项目合同。民间初创企业没有什么机会为解决技术难题进行创新。另外，从中国的法律制度来看，个人投资者对这种项目的投资不能保证能收回成本。

　　So even though China has set a 2015 target for shale gas extraction of 6.5 billion cubic meters--a tiny fraction of what the U.S. extracts every year--it seems unlikely they will come close to meeting it. At one gas site auction in late 2012, not one of the 16 companies bidding had ever drilled a gas well.

　　因此，虽然中国制定了到2015年页岩气产量达到每年65亿立方米的目标(仅相当于美国每年页岩气产量的很小一部分)，但这一目标不太可能得以实现。在2012年底招标的一个页岩气区块，参与竞标的16家企业中没有一家具备钻探页岩气井的经验。

　　There is one place where China could find the expertise to open its gas potential: the United States. China has already turned to giants such as Shell for help--and joint ventured with companies such as FTS International with experience in fracking--but only U.S. companies are truly poised to solve China's issues.

　　如果说中国可以从一个国家找到开采页岩气储备所需的技术，这个国家就是美国。中国已求助于壳牌(Shell)等巨头，并与具有压裂经验的FTS International等企业组建了合资公司，但只有美国企业真正做好了帮助中国解决问题的准备。

　　Houston-based eCorp, for example, has developed a technology for fracking shale wells with liquid propane instead of water mixed with chemicals. Unlike conventional fracking, the process produces no waste because the propane goes into the pipeline along with the gas.

　　例如，总部位于休斯顿的eCorp已开发了一项用液态丙烷取代混有化学剂的水来压裂页岩井的技术。和常规的压裂不同，这一工序不会产生废弃物，因为丙烷会随着页岩气一起进入管道。

　　But for China to tap sufficient foreign expertise would require some rethinking--namely to begin viewing foreign entrepreneurs not as profiteers but as partners. Such a change might also encourage Beijing to see the U.S. less as a geopolitical and economic rival, and more as a potential partner in solving its biggest energy needs.

　　但中国对大量采用国外技术还存有一些顾虑，因为这意味着不能再将国外企业视为牟取暴利者，而是当做合作伙伴。这种转变或许还会促使北京更多地将美国视为解决本国巨大能源需求的潜在合作伙伴，而非地缘政治和经济竞争对手。

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