【原】经济学人商业||石油热再起，科技公司们争相”跪舔”能源行业

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导读

CERAWeek2019剑桥能源周

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听力|精读|翻译|词组

Oil rush

石油热再起

英文部分选自经济学人Business版块

Big energy and big tech

能源巨头与科技巨头

Oil rush

石油热再起

Technology firms stampede to woo the energy industry

科技公司们争相”跪舔”能源行业

A giant hotel in Houston teemed with oil-and-gas executives on March 11th, the start of a CERAWeek. ihs Markit, a research firm which organised the shindig, lined up America’s energy secretary, the chief executives of BP and Chevron (two of the world’s largest oil companies), and other luminaries. Among the dark suits was an open-collared newcomer: Andy Jassy, head of Amazon Web Services. Speaking to a vast ballroom, he extolled the cloud-computing giant’s virtues of moving quickly and learning from failure. Mr Jassy was there not just to offer management advice to what were once the world’s most valuable companies. He was also after their custom.

为期一周的能源大会（CERAWeek）3月11日在休斯顿举行，酒店里挤满了油气行业的高管。组织这次盛会的研究公司ihs Markit召集了美国能源部长、英国石油公司（BP）和雪佛龙（Chevron）公司(世界上最大的两家石油公司)的首席执行官以及其他知名人士。在穿着深色西装的人群中，有一位（穿着）开领的新面孔：亚马逊网络服务主管安迪·雅西Andy Jassy（Andy Jassy）。在巨大的宴会厅里，他夸口自家的云计算行动快速，且能从失败中吸取教训。雅西不仅是去为那些曾经全球市值最高的公司提供管理建议，也愿意为其提供量身定制的服务。

Energy companies are keen to produce oil and gas more efficiently, as they grapple with volatile prices and uncertain long-term demand. Digital investments promise to cut costs and boost output. Tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as a clutch of startups, want to help. For all of Silicon Valley’s professed support for clean power over fossil fuels, the energy industry represents a huge opportunity. Oil companies’ valuations are dwarfed by tech firms’, but their vremain deep (see chart).

能源公司迫切希望提高石油和天然气的生产效率，因为它们在努力应对价格的波动性和需求的长期不确定性。数字化投资有望在削减成本的同时提高产出。亚马逊（Amazon）、微软（Microsoft）和Alphabet（谷歌母公司）等科技巨头以及一些初创企业都想助一臂之力。硅谷的公司都宣称支持清洁能源替代化石燃料，这意味着能源行业将面临巨大的机遇。石油公司的估值与科技公司相比虽相形见绌，但资金量却依然雄厚(见图表)。

Countless industries claim that big data and artificial intelligence (AI) will usher in new prosperity. The trend in oil and gas is nevertheless notable, partly because it is marked, partly because it comes late. For years, many companies remained focused on increasing reserves of oil, not extracting it cost-efficiently. Managers struggled to use data siloed in different parts of the company or in different parts of the world.

无数行业声称大数据和人工智能(AI)运用将带来新的繁荣。尽管如此，石油和天然气行业的趋势还是值得注意，部分原因在于它至关重要，部分由于它在人类的历史中时日尚短来得晚了。多年来，众多公司一直专注于增加石油储量，而不是低成本高效率地开采石油。在公司的不同部门或世界的不同地区之间，管理人员都难以使用相对封闭的数据。

That is changing. Abundant shale oil has made the hunt for reserves less urgent than the need to protect profits. Shale also highlights the utility of new analytics, says Paul Goyden of BCG, a consultancy, as data gush from thousands of wells studded through Texas, North Dakota and other rich fields. Falling costs of sensors, storage and computing power have made digital investments even more attractive.

但今时不同往日，寻找储量因丰富的页岩油而变得没有像保护利润那么紧迫了。咨询公司BCG的保罗戈登（Paul Goyden）表示，随着遍布德克萨斯州、北达科他州和其他储量丰富地区汇集的数据越来越多，页岩油还突显了新型分析技术的效用。传感器、存储器和计算能力等成本的下降令数字化投资更具吸引力。

Early projects are starting to bring results. BP is combining real-time information from sensors with its own models and analytics to optimise output—it estimates such digital tools boosted oil production by more than 30,000 barrels per day last year. Yuri Sebregts, the chief technology officer for Shell, says it could take months for a geoscientist to map faults underground. Software can now sort through seismic data, performing the same task in a few hours for about $20.

早期的项目开始开花结果。英国石油公司将来自传感器的实时信息与自己的模型和分析相结合以优化产量。该公司估计，这些数字工具推动去年石油日产量超30,000桶。壳牌公司首席技术官尤里·塞布雷茨（Yuri Sebregts）表示，一名地球学家绘制地下断层图可能需要几个月的时间，而现在只需大约20美元，软件就可以通过整理分类地震数据，在几小时内完成相同的任务。

As such efforts ramp up, energy firms are pairing in-house expertise with that of the tech industry. Microsoft has courted them the longest. In February ExxonMobil announced that its sprawling shale operations in the Permian basin, in Texas, would use Microsoft’s cloud, AI and other services. That may help ExxonMobil to drill and deploy staff more efficiently, and limit methane leaks. Amazon is trying to catch up. The size of its oil-and-gas team has tripled in recent years, and the company is working with energy giants such as Halliburton and Shell. In Houston it showed off data-storage kit that was continuously showered with water, to prove its mettle in inhospitable oilfields.

借力于不断更新的技术设备，能源公司正将内部专业知识与外部技术产业的专业知识相结合。微软向他们示好的时间最长。二月份，埃克森美孚宣布其在德克萨斯州二叠纪盆地的页岩开发业务将使用微软云、微软人工智能和其他微软服务。这或将有助于埃克森美孚更有效地钻探和部署员工，并防制甲烷泄漏。亚马逊正在奋力赶超。近年来，亚马逊不仅将其石油和天然气团队规模扩张了两倍，而且正与哈里伯顿和壳牌等能源巨头合作。亚马逊还在休斯顿展示了持续淋水状态下的淋水的数据存储套件，以证明其在不友好油田环境的耐用性。

注：“Exxon Mobil”一般是指“埃克森美孚公司”是世界最大的非政府石油天然气生产商。

https://baike.sogou.com/v452384.htm?fromTitle=Exxon+Mobil

哈里伯顿公司（HalliburtonCompany）成立于1919年，是世界上最大的为能源行业提供产品及服务的供应商之一。

https://baike.sogou.com/v7785735.htm?fromTitle=%E5%93%88%E9%87%8C%E4%BC%AF%E9%A1%BF

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is a relative laggard, but hopes to change that. Last year Google Cloud hired Darryl Willis, a former BP executive, to lead a new energy group. He estimates that the industry is using 1-5% of available data. Alphabet has signed deals with Total of France, as well as Anadarko, an American oil company that is testing automated drilling and has an AI specialist on its board of directors.

谷歌母公司Alphabet在这次竞争中相对落后，但寄希望于改变现状。去年，谷歌云雇佣了前英国石油高管达里尔·威利斯来领导其新能源团队。他估计，石油行业仅使用了1-5%的可用数据。Alphabet已经与法国道达尔以及美国石油公司Anadarko签署了协议；后者正在测试自动钻井技术，此外，其董事会成员中还有一名AI专家。

Energy companies feel somewhat jittery about working with large tech firms—and not just because the Silicon Valley stars have outshone them. Automation raises the risk of hacking. Tech firms’ ballooning ambitions raise eyebrows. One questioner asked Mr Jassy if Amazon would itself start producing oil and gas. He said no, as the room giggled nervously.

与这些科技巨头合作的能源公司总是莫名的紧张，不仅仅因为这些硅谷明星企业比他们优秀，自动化设备普及的同时也提高了黑客入侵的风险。这些科技公司的勃勃雄心也招致了某些担忧。有人问雅西先生，亚马逊是否会开始生产石油和天然气。他说不会的同时房间里的其他人都紧张地咯咯笑着。

注释:

raise your eyebrows at sth: 常用被动态] to show that you disapprove of or are surprised by sth 扬起眉毛（表示不赞同或惊讶）栗子 Eyebrows were raised when he arrived without his wife.

他没有和妻子一起来，大家都很惊讶。摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

It is not just the oilmen who are uneasy about the partnerships. Amazon, Microsoft and Google rely on clever young coders, who dislike working for controversial industries. “We are a partner and we follow the energy partner’s needs,” says Caglayan Arkan, who oversees Microsoft’s work with the energy sector. But in February Microsoft employees demanded that it cancel a contract to sell augmented-reality headsets to America’s military. Last year Google decided not to renew a contract with the Pentagon, after some staff argued the company should not be in the “business of war”. Tech workers may yet insist they not be in the business of fossil fuels either.

对这种合作关系感到不安的不只是石油巨子。亚马逊、微软和谷歌都依赖聪明、年轻的程序员，但是，这些年轻人不喜欢为有争议的行业工作。负责监督与能源部门的合作的微软员工卡拉扬·阿尔坎 （Caglayan Arkan）称“我们是合作伙伴，我们遵循能源合作伙伴的需求”。但是，今年2月，微软员工要求微软取消一份向美国军方销售现实增强耳机的合同。去年，一些谷歌员工认为不应该从事“战争业务”致使谷歌终止与五角大楼续约。因而，科技工作者可能还会坚称，他们也不从事化石燃料行业。

翻译组： 

Grace，女，流浪在澳洲，  蛋糕爱好者

Yifei，女，英专硕士，专八，catti二笔

Vambie，女，互联网民工，经济学人粉丝

校核组： 

Emily，女，金融民工，经济学人粉丝

VeRy，男，电气民工，经济学人资浅爱好者

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观点|评论|思考

本次观点由Forest独家奉献

Forest，女，自由职业，保持与自己的距离

今日世界运转的驱动力来源之一在于石油，故而对于一些稍微夸张的人而言，石油市场也许可以说算得上是这个世界上最重要的市场了。

半个多世纪以来，石油价格的涨跌牵动着无数人的心。油价起起伏伏之间，传统的蕴藏量丰富而开发成本极低的中东国家既向全世界展现了他们庞大的威力，又在不经意间慢慢地放手，给予他们的潜在竞争对手，非OPEC国家和地区的石油供应商提供了慢慢崛起的机会。

中东地区虽然富含石油，然而现代石油产业的发现和发展还是由美国、荷兰和英国的公司推动所致。但是，石油是一种带不走的资源，所以通过国有化运动这些地区的政府日益加强了本国对石油的控制，改变了所在国本身反而获益极小的不合理局面。

然而，世界市场风云变幻之间，谁将现身世界石油市场，成为供给这种黑色黄金的大佬？一切由其所供应的石油成本说了算！

此前的50年中，当OPEC成功了提高了油价，其实不仅只带来了西方世界70年代的油价飙升，也给富含页岩油（美国）、油砂石油（加拿大）的这些国家、其他高成本石油开采国（例如，英国北海油田）提供了机会，如果油价高至40美元，所有蕴含石油的国家都能够将油井掘至更深的地下和更深的砂岩。而生产的启动便是开发技术精进、不断研发降低开采成本的前提。1981年，非OPEC国家的石油产量首度超越OPEC。

而今，现代IT科技也被发现能参与到石油开采成本降低的竞赛中来，从生产的角度来看，所有环节都可以因为运用更好的技术而导致成本的下降。发达国家的科技公司虽然并不占有遥远地区的油井，但是他们在通过新的信息采集和挖掘技术重入棋局，卷土重来吗？

所以，此文启示之一也许是：仅仅做一个地主是不安全的，好好学习天天向上才是上上之策。

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