托福写作·素材分享 - 石油价格下跌的原因以及石油价格是否会持续保持下降趋势？

今年石油价格持续上涨，身边的人纷纷抱怨开不起车了，但好在最近的油价有下降趋势，有没有同学好奇过为什么最近油价下跌以及这个下跌局势是否会持续下去呢？我们一起来看外刊，找找答案吧～

Why are prices falling?

Prices at the pump have declined for a number of reasons.

In the commodity market there’s a common saying that “the cure for high prices is high prices.”高价真正的解决办法是高价 And that’s proved true. In other words, high prices bring downdemand需求量下降, which brings down prices.

Some driving is necessary — to get to work, for example — but with prices at record levels, consumers might decide not to take a road trip, or to carpool with friends rather than driving solo. We’ve seen this show up in government consumption figures, which have shown a drop-off 下降 in demand.

Some states have also suspended 暂停 their gas taxes, which artificially pushes prices lower. But the main reason for the fall is the decline in oil prices. Crude原油 is the single largest factor influencing gas prices, accounting for more than 50% of what we pay at the pump.

In recent weeks growing recession fears经济衰退的恐惧 have sent prices tumbling暴跌. Oil is vulnerable to any perceived softness in global economic conditions since slowdowns typically lead to lower demand for oil and petroleum products.

Additionally, China demand has been soft减少 as the country combats Covid cases. And the U.S. has taken unprecedented前所未有的 measures by releasing record amounts of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to put a lid on制止 higher prices. 

Prices at the pump have become a major issue for the White House ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, and President Joe Biden has repeatedly said his administration is doing what it can to ease the burden on consumers.

Will prices stay low?

The move below $4 begs the question of whether further declines are on the horizon. Experts said the relief may be short-lived 短暂的.

For one, while WTI is far below its March peak, it has jumped more than 5% over the last week. And gasoline futures, while also well below their recent highs, are up 10% over the last week.

“The streak of daily declines in the retail price of gasoline is about to end as crude oil and refined product futures have rallied off their recent lows,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. 

The global energy market remains on edge紧张的, and there are a number of factors that could push prices higher in the coming months. 

通过阅读，我们可以发现有的时候打败高价的办法就是高价。当石油价格飙升到没人敢用，大家都减少使用的时候，需求量下降，价格自然下降了。另外，本文还提到中国近期正在与处理新冠病例，以及美国总统拜登做出了前所未有的措施来制止石油价格的上涨都是石油价格近期下降的因素。但是，报刊中预测这个下降趋势并不会持续下去，接下去的几个月又有可能上涨。通过阅读外文报刊的形式来了解时事是个非常不错的方式，希望同学们未来都可以多多阅读哦～