必克VOA新闻：伊拉克库尔德人的建国梦

Seizure of Oilfields Fuels Kurd Statehood Dream

Along the desert horizon around Kirkuk, the bright flares from oil wells puncture the summer haze.

An estimated 4 percent of known global oil reserves lie beneath these sands. It is a prize that Iraq’s Kurds, and its other ethnic and tribal groups, have long sought to control.

The Kurds’ opportunity came Friday, when their Peshmerga fighters seized the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oil fields.

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Minister for Natural Resources says the Kurds will be self-sufficient by the end of the year.

“We will be free with our own revenue as opposed to being under the thumb of dictators in Baghdad,” said Ashti Hawrami.

Baghdad insists all oil revenue should be channeled through the central government. This year it withheld part of the state budget after the Kurds began exporting oil via Turkey.

But with new oil fields under their control, the Kurdistan Regional Government or KRG has plans to expand production.

“There are plans for a larger refinery in Dohuk and a couple of smaller ones, an expansion of another one in Bazian, and those are actually, the Bazian (refinery) is under construction along with a couple of others for, let us say, lighter oil or condensate oil,” Hawrami said.

The problem will be finding the right buyers, says energy consultant Valérie Marcel of policy group Chatham House.

“Taking Kirkuk or KRG’s own exports, then the difficulty is more one of sovereignty, disputed oil," Marcel said. "So then really the problem is that likely potential buyers will not buy because they would be excluded from Iraq export sales in the future. So it would be too risky for them, for the classic purchasers.”

A new pipeline linking Kirkuk to Kurdistan’s own network and on to Turkey opened in May. The KRG says it hopes to export 400,000 barrels of oil per day by 2015, a potential game changer.

“The opening of the pipeline from Kurdistan to Turkey is really groundbreaking because it really does enable Kurdistan to turn away from Baghdad, to turn away from the Middle East proper, and towards Turkey and Europe," Marcel said. "And that opens all sorts of doors.”

In his modest house in Erbil, Omar Hassan Mawlood, 62, a former Peshmerga fighter, watches the historic events unfold on television. he Kurds have long claimed Kirkuk is part of their ancestral homeland, and like many Kurds, Mawlood is ready to fight for it.

"In 1991, when the Iraqi army came from here to invade Kirkuk, I was there,” he said, adding that he is ready again to sacrifice himself, his blood, and his family if the Peshmerga needs him.

Amid the turmoil in Iraq, the Kurds sense an opportunity. Its rulers see the oil fields of Kirkuk as the economic foundation of a future Kurdish state.

 

词汇解析

budget

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.预算

vt.编预算；为 ... 做预算

vi.节省开支

adj.廉价的；不贵的

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Congress has approved the new educational budget.

国会通过了新的教育预算。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

The government has budgeted 10000000 pounds for education spending.

政府将10000000英镑编入教育预算。

用作不及物动词 (vi.)

If we budget carefully, we'll be able to afford a new house.

如果我们精打细算就能买一座新房子了。

用作形容词 (adj.)

You can buy high-quality goods at budget prices there.

你可以在那买到物美价廉的商品。

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apart

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adv.相距；分开地；分别地

adj.分开的；分离的

参考例句

用作副词 (adv.)

The two villages are three miles apart.

这两个村子相距三英里。

用作形容词 (adj.)

At that time we were never apart.

那时我们从不分开。

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finance

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.金融；财政；资金

vt.给 ... 提供资金；负担经费

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the minister in charge of finance in Britain.

英国财政大臣是负责财政的大臣。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

The repairs to the school will be financed by the educational department.

学校的修缮将由教育部门出资。

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persist

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

v.坚持；执意；继续；持续

参考例句

用作动词 (v.)

They persist with the agricultural reform, despite opposition from the farmers.

他们不顾农民反对,仍继续进行农业改革。

The cold weather will persist for the rest of the week.

这种寒冷的天气将持续到本周末。

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absolutely

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adv.完全地；绝对地；[语]独立地

int.（表示赞同）完全正确，一点没错

参考例句

用作副词 (adv.)

I trust his discretion absolutely.

我完全相信他的判断。

Most researchers believe that, in theory, mobile phones are absolutely safe.

多数研究者认为,从理论上讲,移动电话是绝对安全的。

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urban

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.城市的；都市的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

In some developing countries more and more people are migrating to urban areas.

在某些发展中的国家,越来越多的人向市区迁移。

The quality of urban living has been damaged by excessive noise levels.

城市生活的质量已被过度的噪音所破坏。

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carbon

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.碳；复写纸；复本；碳精棒

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Carbon dioxide consists of carbon and oxygen.

二氧化碳是由碳和氧组成的。

 

 

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