Oil jumped after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they backed extending an Opec-led agreement to cut output until March 2018, intensifying their push to shrink excess inventories that have kept a ceiling on prices.
油价昨日跃升，此前沙特阿拉伯和俄罗斯表示，它们支持把欧佩克(OPEC)主导的减产协议延期至2018年3月，此举强化了产油国缩减过剩库存的努力，过多的库存阻止了油价上涨。
Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak pledged yesterday to do “whatever it takes” to reduce global oil stockpiles and balance the market.沙特能源部长哈立德?法利赫(Khalid al-Falih)和俄罗斯能源部长亚历山大?诺瓦克(Alexander Novak)昨日承诺“采取一切必要行动”减少全球石油过剩库存，使市场恢复平衡。Output from the US and other countries outside the cartel has surpassed Opec’s expectations and offset drastic supply curbs from some of the world’s biggest producers aimed at ending the worst oil crash in a generation.这个卡特尔以外的一些产油国（包括美国）近来石油产量超出了欧佩克的预期，抵消了世界上一些最大产油国为结束一代人以来最严重的油价崩盘所作出的大幅供应限制。Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and de facto Opec leader, and Russia, the largest producer, have been forced into taking further action after prices erased all their gains since the output cut deal came into effect in January.沙特是世界上最大的石油出口国和欧佩克事实上的领导者，而俄罗斯是世界最大产油国。今年1月份减产协议生效后，油价一度上涨，但随后回落，抹去全部涨幅，迫使沙特和俄罗斯采取进一步行动。It was expected that Opec and other producers such as Russia would extend the agreement, reached late last year, until the end of 2017. But the move to prolong the deal until next March surprised market analysts.人们曾预计，欧佩克和俄罗斯等其他产油国将把去年末达成的减产协议延长至2017年底。延长减产协议至明年3月的举动让市场分析师们意外。Prices briefly rose more than 3 per cent after a joint statement was released from the ministers, who had met in Beijing and discussed oil output policy.沙特和俄罗斯能源部长在北京会晤并讨论石油产量政策后，发表了一份联合声明，油价随即一度上涨3%以上。Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up $1.31 to $52.15 a barrel in London. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, rallied $1.35 to $49.19 a barrel.全球基准布伦特原油(Brent)在伦敦一度上涨1.31美元，至每桶52.15美元。美国基准西德克萨斯中质原油(WTI)一度上涨1.35美元，至每桶49.19美元。Both energy ministers said they were committed to “stabilising the global oil market, reducing volatility, and ensuring the balancing of supply and demand in the near and long term”.两国能源部长表示，他们致力于“稳定全球石油市场，减少波动，确保近期乃至长期的供需平衡”。They recommended that the next round of reductions should be on the same terms as the first deal, when producer nations agreed to cut almost 1.8m barrels a day for the first six months of 2017.他们建议，下一轮减产的条款应该与初始协议相同，按照初始协议，产油国同意在2017年头六个月每天削减近180万桶产量。Opec ministers are due to meet in Vienna later this month to discuss the extension of output curbs, seeking to reach agreement among all members inside and outside the cartel.
欧佩克各国将于本月晚些时候在维也纳举行部长级会议，讨论延长产量限制，寻求让这个卡特尔内外的所有产油国达成协议。A final decision on the nine-month extension will be made at the May 25 meeting. The ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia were optimistic that “a wider circle of countries” outside the current group would join in implementing the cuts.定于5月25日举行的此次会议，将对为期九个月的减产延期作出最后决定。沙特和俄罗斯能源部长乐观地认为，现有参与国家以外的“更大一圈国家”将加入减产行列。