'Perfect Storm' of Factors Driving Up Oil Prices, say Experts (1/3)

American motorists appear to grow more dismayed every time they go to a gasoline station. The average price for a gallon of fuel rose nearly six cents in the past week alone, and is more than 50 cents higher than a year ago.

While consumers complain, others are pointing fingers.

For Ray Carbone, who heads the New York-based energy trading firm Paramount Options, the issue boils down to three words: supply and demand. He notes that the world is consuming more fossil fuel each day, led by large, rapidly developing countries like China and India, at a time when global oil production is stagnant.

"The demand numbers coming out of Asia, although slower than a year or two ago, have certainly put into the fore that the U.S. is not the big, big driver in demand that it used to be, And that seems to be what people are having trouble coming to grips with, I think."

Despite rising oil consumption, the world's largest oil cartel, OPEC, has resisted calls to boost production. But OPEC officials are offering no apologies, and scoff at the theory that inadequate supply to meet rising demand lies at the heart of today's elevated oil prices.

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美国的驾车者每当走进加油站时似乎变得更失望了。仅上周，平均每加仑燃油的价格就上涨了近6美分，这比去年高出了50美分。

在消费者抱怨之时，其他人则开始公开辩论谁该为此负责。

对于总部设于纽约的能源交易公司Paramount Option的领导人Ray Carbone而言，该问题简而言之就是三个字"供与需"。他谈到，当全球石油生产正处于停滞期时，世界每天却在消耗更多的化石燃料，而其中消耗最多的是像中国和印度这样较大的、高速发展的国家。

"现在亚洲已经比一、两年前明显放缓了需求量，但可以肯定的是，美国已经不在像过去一样是个大需求量的国家，我认为，这是人们不大好对付的。

尽管油价不断增长，世界最大的石油联盟OPEC却抵制提高产量的呼声。而且，OPEC官员非但没表示道歉，还嘲笑供不应求是当今油价上涨的核心问题的理论。

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