US imports of crude oil from Opec nations are at their lowest level in almost 30 years, underlining the impact of the shale revolution on global trade flows.

美国从石油输出国组织(OPEC)进口的原油量跌至近30年以来最低水平，突显页岩革命对全球贸易格局的影响。

The lower dependence on imports from the cartel, which pumps a third of the world’s crude, comes amid advances in hydraulic fracturing that have propelled domestic US production to about 9m barrels a day – the highest level since the mid-1980s.

OPEC出产的原油占全球总产量的三分之一。美国降低对OPEC原油依赖度之际，水力压裂技术的进步推动美国国内的原油产量升至每日大约900万桶，这是20世纪80年代中期以来的最高水平。

In August, Opec’s share of US crude imports dropped to 40 per cent – accounting for 2.9m b/d – the lowest since May 1985, according to Financial Times analysis of US Department of Energy data.

根据英国《金融时报》对美国能源部(Department of Energy)数据的分析，今年8月，OPEC原油占美国原油进口总量的比例跌至40%，为每日290万桶，是1985年5月以来的最低点。

At its 1976 peak it stood at about

1976年，这一比例曾达到88%的顶峰。美国对外国原油的需求降低，以及亚洲对原油需求的不断上升，意味着中东、西非和拉丁美洲的产油国将目光转向亚洲。但美国依然是仅次于中国的全球第二大石油净进口国。

88 per cent. The decline in the US appetite for foreign oil, alongside expanding eastern demand, has meant producers from the Middle East, west Africa and Latin America have turned towards Asia. But the US remains the world’s second-largest net oil importer after China.

页岩繁荣对OPEC各个成员国的影响不同。阿尔及利亚和利比亚等非洲国家受到的打击最为严重，而沙特阿拉伯和委内瑞拉依然保持相当强劲的态势。“非洲受到了最严重的挤压，”渣打银行(Standard Chartered)分析师保罗•霍斯耐尔(Paul Horsnell)说。

The impact of the shale boom on Opec members has varied, with African countries such as Algeria and Libya hit hardest, while Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have remained fairly strong. “It has been Africa that has been severely squeezed,” said Paul Horsnell, an analyst at Standard Chartered.

尼日利亚出产的原油品质与美国北达科达州的原油类似，该国受美国页岩繁荣的打击最为沉重。该国对美国的原油出口量曾在1979年达到每日137万桶的顶峰，而今年7月两国之间的原油贸易已完全停止。

Nigeria, which produces crude similar to the quality from North Dakota, has been the biggest victim of US shale. Barrels stopped flowing altogether in July, having reached a 1979 peak of 1.37m b/d.

8月，美国从OPEC最大产油国沙特进口的原油为每日89.4万桶，略低于进口总量的12%。分析人士称，自那以来，美国对比较重质的沙特原油的进口有所增加。在高峰时期，海湾国家的原油曾占美国原油进口总量的三分之一。

August imports from Saudi Arabia – Opec’s largest producer – stood at just under 12 per cent of the total, at 894,000 b/d. Analysts say these heavier crude imports have since increased. At the peak, the Gulf nation made up a third of total US imports.

美国从科威特和伊拉克进口的原油有所增加，而从阿联酋和卡塔尔进口的原油数十年来一直保持很低水平。根据制裁规定，美国禁止从伊朗进口原油。

Kuwaiti and Iraqi imports have accelerated, while those from the UAE and Qatar have been at nominal levels for decades. Iranian imports are banned under sanctions.

译者/许雯佳