緩解空氣污染 中國花200億美元從英國購買液化天然氣

One of China’s biggest oil companies signed a $20 billion deal with BP PLC BP for liquefied natural gas deliveries, and announced a strategic partnership with Royal Dutch Shell PLC RD , in a flurry of activity marking a three-day visit to the UK by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

中國總理李克強對英國進行爲期三天的訪問期間，中國最大的石油企業之一與英國石油公司（BP PLC）簽訂了一份價值200億美元的液化天然氣供應協議，同時還宣佈與荷蘭皇家殼牌石油公司（Royal Dutch Shell PLC）達成了戰略伙伴關係。

Li also repeated China’s interest in financing the construction of the next generation of nuclear power plants in the UK, although there were no firm deals struck due to the ongoing uncertainty over whether the government’s policy on new nuclear build breaks European Union law on state aid.

另外，李克強總理再次提出中國有意向資助英國建設下一代核電站，儘管由於擔心政府建設新型核能的政策有可能會違反歐盟有關政府救助的法律，雙方並未簽訂正式的投資協議。

The deal with BP is the latest in a series of mega-deals illustrating China’s insatiable demand for clean-burning gas, as pollution from coal-fired power plants and vehicle use threatens to reach crisis levels in many of its cities. Only last month, China signed a much larger $400 billion 30-year deal to import gas from Russia. That deal, ironically, was based in part on supplies of gas from fields in eastern Siberia which BP’s former joint venture in Russia had been squeezed out of as Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin assumed more direct control of the country’s mineral wealth.

因爲電廠燃煤和交通工具尾氣導致很多城市空氣重度污染，近年來中國對清潔能源的需求激增，與外國簽訂了大量訂單，與英國石油公司的訂單就是其中最新的一個。上個月，中國剛剛與俄國簽訂了一份爲期30年、價值4,000億美元的天然氣供應協議。頗爲諷刺的是，協議中部分天然氣的供應來自於東西伯利亞油田。英國石油公司與俄國的合資企業就曾坐落於這個地區，但由於普京政府加強了對礦藏的直接控制，收購了這家合資公司中英國石油公司的股份。

The Chinese deal is a welcome piece of good news for BP after repeated disappointments in the U.S. as it struggles with the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. It will see BP will deliver up to 1.5 million tons a year of LNG–equivalent to 72 billion cubic feet of gas–to China National Offshore Oil Company, or CNOOC, for 20 years from 2019 onwards. It’s not yet fixed where the gas will come from, but BP has a global portfolio of LNG assets, including the opportunity to export from terminals in the Gulf of Mexico. It already supplies LNG to CNOOC from Indonesia.

自從“深水地平線”鑽井平臺事故後，英國石油公司在美國屢次碰壁。因此，這次與中國成功達成協議對它來說確實是件好事。根據項目要求，從2019年開始，英國石油公司每年要向中國海洋石油總公司( China National Offshore Oil Company, 簡稱中海油)供應150萬噸液化天然氣，相當於720億立方英尺的天然氣，爲期20年。協議雖然沒有確定天然氣供應地，但英國石油公司液化天然氣供應地遍佈全球，甚至包括墨西哥灣天然氣管道終端。據稱，它已經在從印度尼西亞向中海油供應液化天然氣。

The office of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, in an ostentatious display of coyness, made no mention of the deal in briefing notes on Li’s visit, focusing instead on a list of less controversial deals involving furniture and children’s TV programs.

卡梅倫政府對這個項目態度曖昧，在李克強訪英的簡報中隻字未提該石油協議，而把話題集中在其它不痛不癢的項目上，包括傢俱與兒童電視節目等。

Li also confirmed that China would lift a ban on imports of beef from Britain that has been in place since contaminated feed triggered a widespread outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalitis, or Mad Cow Disease.

自牛腦海綿狀病(瘋牛病)大規模爆發以來，中國一直禁止從英國進口牛肉。李克強此行還明確表示中國會解除對進口英國牛肉的禁令。