美国中东石油进口量上升

The US was more reliant on the Middle East for its oil imports last year, underscoring the critical importance of the politically-unstable region for the country despite the growing energy independence its shale gas revolution is bringing.

去年美国在石油进口方面对中东的依赖度上升，凸显出这一政治不稳定地区对于美国的重要性，尽管页岩气开发带来的能源革命使美国的能源独立性逐步上升。

That domestic production boom has triggered intense debate over whether the US would still guard the world’s critical sea lanes, such as the Strait of Hormuz in two decades’ time – or whether China, whose dependence on Middle Eastern crude imports is rapidly rising – would replace it.

美国国内能源开发的繁荣引发了激烈辩论，其主题是：20年后霍尔木兹海峡(Strait of Hormuz)等世界关键航道是否仍将由美国来确保畅通？对于中东原油进口依赖度正在迅速上升的中国，是否将接替美国的这一角色？

However, recent oil import trends from the Gulf region suggest why the US might continue to play a critical security role in the region. While domestic production increased the most in 150 years last year, Washington will confirm later this week that oil imports from the Gulf region continued to rise.

但近期美国从海湾地区的石油进口趋势似乎表明，美国可能将继续在这一地区的安全领域扮演关键角色。虽然去年美国国内的能源产量增幅达到150年来的最大值，但美国政府将于本周晚些时候证实，从海湾地区的石油进口仍在继续增长。

By the end of November the US had already imported more than 450m barrels of crude from Saudi Arabia, more than it imported from Riyadh in the whole of 2009, 2010 or 2011, according to figures from the US Department of Energy. For the first time since 2003, Saudi imports accounted for more than 15 per cent of total US oil imports. The Gulf as a whole accounted for more than 25 per cent, a nine-year high.

美国能源部(US Department of Energy)的数据显示，截至去年11月底，美国已经从沙特阿拉伯进口了超过4.5亿桶石油，超过2009、2010或2011年的全年进口量。来自沙特阿拉伯的石油进口量在美国石油进口总量中所占比重自2003年以来首次超过了15%。海湾地区作为一个整体在美国石油进口中所占比重超过了25%，创九年高点。

Other Gulf exporters are also seeing unusually strong US demand. By the end of November, Kuwait had shipped more oil to the US than in any year since 1998. Analysts are expecting annual figures to be released later this week to confirm the trend seen up to November.

美国对于海湾地区其他产油国的石油需求同样异常强劲。截至去年11月底，科威特对美国的石油出口量超过了自1998年以来的任何一年。分析师预计，将于本周晚些时候公布的2012年美国全年石油进口数据，将延续截至11月的趋势。

New extraction techniques – most notably hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling – have unlocked huge hydrocarbon resources in the US previously thought unrecoverable, raising expectations that over time US dependence on Middle East oil will drop.

水力压裂法（hydraulic fracturing，简称fracking）以及水平钻井(horizontal drilling)等新型采掘技术的问世，使得此前认为无法开采的美国国内碳氢化合物资源变得可以开发。这提高了各方的期望，认为美国对中东石油的依赖度将逐渐下降。

These developments triggered debate about the long-term commitment of Washington to security in the Gulf, where the US Fifth Fleet has operated since 1995.

这些新发展引发了围绕美国保障海湾地区安全的长期承诺的辩论，自1995年起美国第五舰队(US Fifth Fleet)就一直驻扎在海湾地区。