本周一，美國原油期貨---西得克薩斯中間基原油（WTI）價(jià)格史無前例地跌至負(fù)值，這意味著石油貿(mào)易史上首次出現(xiàn)賣方必須向買方支付購買原油期貨費(fèi)用的情況。

The price of US oil has turned negative for the first time in history.

美國原油期貨價(jià)格史無前例地跌至負(fù)值。

That means oil producers are paying buyers to take the commodity off their hands over fears that storage capacity could run out in May.

這意味著，由于擔(dān)心5月份原油存儲(chǔ)能力可能耗盡，石油生產(chǎn)商正在付錢給買家以拋出手中的存貨。

Demand for oil has all but dried up as lockdowns across the world have kept people inside.

由于全球各地都在采取封鎖措施，讓人們居家不外出，石油需求幾乎已經(jīng)枯竭。

As a result, oil firms have resorted to renting tankers to store the surplus supply and that has forced the price of US oil into negative territory.

因此，石油公司不得不通過租用油輪來儲(chǔ)存過剩的供應(yīng)量，這迫使美國原油期貨價(jià)格跌至負(fù)值。

Because of oversupply, storage tanks for WTI are becoming so full it is difficult to find space. The US Energy Information Administration said last week that storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the heart of the US pipeline network, was about 72% full as of April 10.

由于供應(yīng)過剩，西得克薩斯中間基原油的儲(chǔ)罐即將被填滿。美國能源信息署上周表示，截至4月10日，位于俄克拉何馬州庫欣的美國石油管網(wǎng)核心存儲(chǔ)基地存儲(chǔ)空間已占用大約72%。

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, fell as low as minus $37.63 a barrel.

美國原油期貨的基準(zhǔn)油---西得克薩斯中間基原油（WTI)）價(jià)格一度跌至每桶負(fù)37.63美元（約合人民幣負(fù)266.12元）。

That's the lowest level since NYMEX opened oil futures trading in 1983.

這是自1983年紐約商品交易所開始石油期貨交易以來的最低水平。

"This is off-the-charts wacky," said Stewart Glickman, an energy equity analyst at CFRA Research. "The demand shock was so massive that it's overwhelmed anything that people could have expected."

CFRA Research的能源資產(chǎn)分析師斯圖爾特?格利克曼說：“這簡直是跌破紀(jì)錄了。需求沖擊如此之大，遠(yuǎn)超人們的預(yù)期?！?/p>

off the charts：打破舊記錄

The severe drop on Monday was driven in part by a technicality of the global oil market. Oil is traded on its future price and May futures contracts are due to expire on Tuesday. Traders were keen to offload those holdings to avoid having to take delivery of the oil and incur storage costs.

本周一（4月20日）的原油期貨價(jià)格大幅下跌在一定程度上是由全球石油市場(chǎng)的技術(shù)性因素造成的。石油以期貨價(jià)格交易，5月份的期貨合約將于本周二到期。交易員們急于拋出這些合約，以避免不得不接受石油的交割，并產(chǎn)生儲(chǔ)存成本。

June prices for WTI were also down, but trading at above $20 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent Crude - the benchmark used by Europe and the rest of the world, was also weaker, down 8.9% at less than $26 a barrel.

西得克薩斯中間基原油6月份的期貨價(jià)格也有所下降，但仍維持在每桶20美元以上。與此同時(shí)，歐洲和世界其他地區(qū)使用的基準(zhǔn)油布倫特原油期貨價(jià)格也在走弱，下跌8.9%，至每桶不到26美元。

Mr Glickman said the historic reversal in pricing was a reminder of the strains facing the oil market and warned that June prices could also fall, if lockdowns remain in place. "I'm really not optimistic about the prospects for oil companies or oil prices," he said.

格利克曼表示，油價(jià)出現(xiàn)歷史性逆轉(zhuǎn)，提醒人們注意石油市場(chǎng)面臨的壓力，并警告稱，如果新冠疫情封鎖禁令繼續(xù)下去，6月份原油期貨價(jià)格也可能下跌。他說：“我對(duì)石油公司或油價(jià)的前景真的不樂觀?！?/p>

The oil industry has been struggling with both tumbling demand and in-fighting among producers about reducing output.

石油行業(yè)一直在艱難應(yīng)對(duì)需求下滑，以及生產(chǎn)商之間關(guān)于減產(chǎn)的明爭暗斗。

in-fighting：n.混戰(zhàn)；暗斗；內(nèi)耗

Earlier this month, Opec members and its allies finally agreed a record deal to slash global output by about 10%. The deal was the largest cut in oil production ever to have been agreed.

本月早些時(shí)候，歐佩克成員國及其盟友終于達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的協(xié)議，將全球產(chǎn)量削減約10%。這是迄今為止達(dá)成的最大規(guī)模的石油減產(chǎn)協(xié)議。

But many analysts say the cuts were not big enough to make a difference.

但許多分析人士表示，削減幅度不足以產(chǎn)生影響。

Capacity is filling fast on land and at sea. As that process continues it's likely to bear down further on prices.

陸上和海上的運(yùn)力正在迅速趨近于飽和。隨著這一過程的繼續(xù)，油價(jià)可能會(huì)進(jìn)一步下跌。

It will take a recovery in demand to really turn the market round and that will depend on how the health crisis unfolds.

只有需求復(fù)蘇才能真正扭轉(zhuǎn)市場(chǎng)，這將取決于目前這一衛(wèi)生危機(jī)的進(jìn)展。

這對(duì)消費(fèi)者有何影響？

Even though a historic decline for oil sent prices negative on Monday, don't expect to get paid to fill up your gas tank any time soon.

盡管本周一（4月20日）原油期貨價(jià)格歷史性地跌至負(fù)值，但也別指望近期加油站會(huì)倒貼錢給你加滿油箱。

While US oil prices are trading in negative territory for the first time ever, it is unclear whether that will trickle down to consumers, who typically see lower oil prices translate into cheaper gasoline at the pump.

盡管美國原油期貨價(jià)格有史以來首次跌至負(fù)值，但目前尚不清楚這是否會(huì)影響到消費(fèi)者，原油價(jià)格下跌通常會(huì)導(dǎo)致汽油價(jià)格下跌。

The crash in crude futures prices at Cushing won’t necessarily translate into a crash in prices at the gas pump, said Tom Kloza, a veteran analyst with Oil Price Information Services.

油價(jià)信息服務(wù)公司資深分析師湯姆?科洛薩說，美國原油期貨價(jià)格的暴跌不一定會(huì)導(dǎo)致加油站的油價(jià)暴跌。

With recent lower oil prices, the typical American family is probably going to save about $150 to $175 this month on their fuel purchases, he said.

他說，由于近期油價(jià)下跌，一個(gè)普通的美國家庭本月可能會(huì)節(jié)省大約150到175美元的燃油費(fèi)用。

"The silver lining is, if you for various reason actually need to be on the roads, you're filling up for far less than you would have been even four months ago," Mr Glickman said. "The problem for most of us is even if you could fill up, where are you going to go?"

格利克曼說：“好消息是，如果你因?yàn)楦鞣N各樣的原因確實(shí)需要上路，你加滿油箱的花銷比四個(gè)月前要少得多。但我們大多數(shù)人的問題是，即使你能把油箱加滿，你要去哪里呢？”

英文來源：BBC、路透社、CNN

翻譯&編輯：yaning