美语听力讲解:油价继暴涨后暴跌 特朗普称必要时会动用美战略石油储备

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Oil has been front and center in headlines and stock markets since an attack was carried out against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia last Saturday. No one was hurt. But Saudi Arabia exports more oil than any other country. And half of its production was temporarily disrupted. That caused a surge in oil prices when international stock markets opened on Monday. Oil is sold by the barrel. Each barrel is equal to 42 gallons. A barrel of Brent crude oil, a world standard, was selling for around $60 a barrel last Friday before the attack happened.
Afterward on Monday, the price of Brent crude had risen to almost $72 at one point. That was its biggest increase in history. And it had an impact on stock markets around the world. But the higher price didn't hold. Yesterday it had settled back down to less than $64 a barrel. The reasons why — The Reuters News Agency reported that Saudi Arabian oil production would be back to normal in two to three weeks. And on Tuesday the Middle Eastern country's energy minister said that Saudi Arabia would use its reserves around the world to make sure its oil exports would stay the same despite the damaged facility. So stock market investors saw all this as good news for the worlds oil supply and prices decreased.

Meantime, an international investigation is trying to figure out who conducted the attack. A United States government official told cnn that circuit boards from one of the weapons used have been recovered and they indicate that both drones and missiles were used in the attack. The official says Iran is a suspect though that country denies being involved. We mentioned that Saudi Arabia has oil reserves available to decrease the impact of a disruption like this. The U.S. also has storage facilities known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. President Donald Trump said yesterday that he doesn't think oil from that will be needed right now. But he indicated that the U.S. is prepared to open the reserve if necessary.