【英语财经】美国基准油价12年来首次跌破每桶30美元 Oil prices near $30 as selling continues

The brutal sell-off that has hammered oil prices since the turn of the year continued on Tuesday with one contract dropping below $30 a barrel for the first time in a dozen years, triggering further job cuts and fears that the rout has further to run.

As traders bet on lower prices, Brent crude fell nearly 4 per cent to $30.34 a barrel, extending losses over the first seven trading sessions of 2016 to 18.6 per cent.

On the other side of the Atlantic, West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, dropped as much as 4.7 per cent to $29.93 — the first time below $30 in 12 years.

“Oil continues to trade as if 2016 was the year of the Bear rather than Monkey,” said analysts at Citi.

As prices fell BP announced it will cut 4,000 jobs across its exploration and production business globally, including 600 at its North Sea operations, as the energy industry’s biggest players struggle to shore up revenues.

“Oil markets have ?begun 2016 poorly. An exceptionally warm start to the winter?.?.?.?has worsened the existing supply glut,” said analysts at Energy Aspects, a consultancy. “Meanwhile, rising macro concerns, due to the rout in Chinese stock markets and slowing US growth, are adding fuel to the fire.”

Concerns about China’s economy, whose growth led a surge in global oil demand over the past decade, has added to concerns about a persistent supply glut that has pushed oil prices down by 70 per cent over the past 18 months.

Energy Aspects believes global oil demand ground to a halt in November 2015, and fell in December for the first time in 13 months.

Demand was one of the few positives in the oil market last year as motorists enjoyed the benefit of lower prices at the pump. It is also one of the factors Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies in Opec are banking on rebalance a market that is oversupplied by at least 1m barrels day.

开年以来沉重打击油价的无情抛售周二继续上演，美国石油期货价格12年来首次跌破30美元/桶，导致更多的裁员以及对油价进一步下跌的担忧。

由于交易商押注油价还会下跌，布伦特原油(Brent crude)下跌近4%，至30.34美元/桶，使得2016年头7个交易日的累计跌幅扩大至18.6%。

大西洋的另一边，美国原油基准西德克萨斯中质原油(West Texas Intermediate)下跌多达4.7%，至29.93美元/桶——12年来首次跌破30美元。

花旗(Citi)分析师表示：“2016年的石油交易使得今年更像熊年，而非猴年。”

由于油价下跌，英国石油(BP)宣布将在全球范围内裁减勘探与生产业务人员4000人，包括北海油田的600名员工。石油业的各大公司都在艰难地维持收入。

“2016年石油市场开局不佳。异常温暖的冬季……加剧了已有的供应过剩，”咨询公司Energy Aspects的分析师说，“与此同时，中国股市暴跌以及美国增长放缓带来的不断增多的宏观经济担忧更是火上加油。”

过去10年，中国经济增长带动了全球石油需求激增，而对中国经济的关注加剧了人们对石油持续供应过剩的担忧，这已导致油价在过去18个月下跌70%。

Energy Aspects认为，全球石油需求增长在2015年11月陷入停滞，并在12月出现了13个月以来的首次萎缩。

随着车主在加油站享受更低价格的实惠，需求成为去年石油市场为数不多的积极因素之一。这也是沙特阿拉伯及其在欧佩克(Opec)的海湾盟国寄望于促使市场再平衡的因素之一，目前石油市场每日的过剩供应至少达到100万桶。

译者/陈隆祥