Title:
How High Will the Price of Oil Go This Time?
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
Unrest in North Africa and the Middle East pushed
oil prices back into the news. Prices rose at their
fastest level since two thousand eight.Libya is not
among the ten largest oil exporters. But the
rebellion against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi
reduced production, affecting the global market.In
March, oil prices rose above one hundred dollars a
barrel. Prices went above one hundred forty-five
dollars a barrel in two thousand eight. The price of
oil affects prices and demand for energy, plastics,
farm chemicals and many other products made with
petroleum. During the last week of February,
Americans paid the second biggest weekly increase in
gasoline prices in twenty years. The United States
has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that contains more
than seven hundred million barrels of oil. President
Obama could use some of this emergency supply to
help ease fuel prices. But intervening in the market
could hurt oil production in the United States.Oil
prices have been rising at a bad time, just as many
economies have been recovering from the global
recession. Also, several countries in the euro area
are still struggling with debt crises. European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said in
March that "strong vigilance" is needed to contain
inflation. That could mean raising interest rates
which could hurt European countries heavily in
debt.In the United States, higher fuel prices come
just as General Motors and Chrysler show signs of
recovery after their reorganizations. American car
sales in February were twenty-seven percent higher
than last February. GM led all carmakers with a
forty-seven percent increase.High fuel prices reduce
demand for big cars and trucks. But economist George
Magliano says this time, high prices may be good for
carmakers. He says with gasoline prices higher, some
people might want to get a much more fuel-efficient
vehicle. He says gasoline vehicles get twenty-five
to thirty percent better mileage today than they did
three or four years ago. For VOA Special English,
I'm Carolyn Presutti. Share your stories about what
high fuel prices mean to you. You can comment at
voaspecialenglish.com or on Facebook at VOA Learning
English. You can also download podcasts on our
website and watch videos on our YouTube channel at
VOA Learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
