Organization of petroleum Exporting countries

Ex.9. Прочитайте текст, устно переведите его и выполните упражнения, данные ниже.

Ex.8. Поставьте сказуемые, данные в скобках, в отрицательную форму. Предложения перепишите и переведите.

Ex.7. Перепишите и переведите данные словосочетания, обращая внимание на особенности перевода определений, выраженных существительными.

1) goods delivery price 6) wages and salaries increase

2) new quality-control program 7) city power supply system

3) machinery service life 8) safety engineering rules

4) market-economy country 9) labor economics expert

5) debt cancellation agreement 10) demand and supply assessment

1) Labor like that of a musician or a librarian, although useful, [increases] material wealth of society, that is why it is called unproductive labor.

2) Although the economic study had been done at the request of the government, the latter [followed] the recommendations of the analysts.

3) My report about exports of foodstuffs to developed countries [have been finished] yet but I have already found the necessary data in the Internet.

4) The goods prices [vary] greatly within a particular market as all sellers impose practically the same prices.

5) When economic and political situation [is steady] in the country, it [is safe] to store wealth in the form of money.

[1] Few citizens of the industrialized nations had ever heard of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) until 1973, when it imposed an oil embargo on the United States and raised the price of crude oil by 70 percent. The name of the oil cartel suddenly became a household word¹.

[2] Before OPEC was founded in 1960, the system of petroleum production and distribution was controlled by large oil companies in Europe and the U.S. By keeping the price of petroleum and its derivatives low, the companies had become very profitable, and they also had made the industrialized nations dependent on cheap oil. As a result, petroleum became a leading factor in the prosperity that occurred in North America, Western Europe, and Japan after World War II.

[3] Many of the nations with large petroleum reserves, however, were very poor, particularly those in the Middle East. In the 1950s, these countries became more nationalistic and unwilling to² have a valuable and unrenewable resource continue to bring them small profits. In September 1960, five nations – Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela – established the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in order to coordinate the petroleum production and export policies of its members. Six other nations – Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, and Nigeria – joined later.

[4] For nearly 13 years, OPEC was a relatively weak organization with little impact on oil company policies. This situation changed dramatically in 1973. The USA and several Western European nations had supported Israel in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In retaliation³, the Arab members of OPEC imposed a temporary embargo on oil shipments to countries friendly to Israel and raised the price of crude petroleum from $3.01 to $11.28 per barrel. This resulted in a gasoline shortage in many countries and greatly increased the cost of gasoline.

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, OPEC increased oil prices several times. By 1980, a barrel of crude oil had risen to 30 dollars. As a result, OPEC nations amassed great wealth while Western nations experienced inflation, recession, and high unemployment.

[5] The U.S. and other Western nations had taken measure to reduce their dependence on OPEC. These countries began expanding their use of other energy sources such as coal and nuclear power, increased drilling for their own oil reserves and strengthened relationships with other petroleum-producing nations, such as Mexico. In turn, OPEC nations found themselves sitting on large stockpiles of oil, with lower demand among Western nations. OPEC had to cut petroleum prices, which continued to fall throughout the 1980s.

[6] In early 1990, the cost of a barrel of crude oil accounted for $14. OPEC tried to stabilize the price by setting limits on the amount of oil produced by each member. Kuwait’s refusal to cut production resulted in Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, which set off the Persian Gulf War⁴. When the UN imposed embargo against oil exports from Iraq and Kuwait, the rest of the OPEC countries voted to increase their petroleum production. For several years after the Persian Gulf War, OPEC did little to change the production and pricing of petroleum. In 1997–98, however, oil prices collapsed. A widespread economic crisis in Asia led to a sharp drop in demand for oil. After the crisis passed, oil prices went back up.

[7] Nowadays, OPEC countries supply about two-fifths of the world's oil consumption and possess about three-fourths of the world's proven oil reserves. However, the organization's influence has been greatly reduced because of internal dissents⁵, the development of alternative energy sources in the West, and exploitation of oil sources in non-OPEC countries.

Notes: 1) household word – хорошо знакомое/повседневное слово

2) became more nationalistic and unwilling to… – начали бороться за свою независимость

и уже не хотели, чтобы…

3) in retaliation – в ответ, в ‘отместку’

4) to set off the Persian Gulf War – развязать войну в Персидском заливе

5) dissents – разногласия

Дата добавления: 2017-02-01