01
Crude Oil Trading Launched in China
原油期货正式在国内挂牌交易
On March 26th，China launched trading of the yuan-denominated crude oil futures contracts at the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, which is the first futures listed on China's mainland to overseas investors.
3月26日，以人民币定价的原油期货在上海国际能源交易中心正式挂牌交易，成为了我国大陆地区第一个向海外投资者开放的期货品种。
The listed futures for trading are contracts to be delivered from September this year to March 2019. The benchmark prices of 15 contracts were set at 416 yuan, 388 yuan and 375 yuan per barrel, varied by delivery dates.
本次挂牌的期货包含了今年9月至明年3月的合约，15个合约的基准价根据交货日期的不同，分别定在了每桶416元、388元和375元。
The opening price of the SC1809 contract started at 440 yuan per barrel. Just twenty minutes after the opening, 14,000 transactions were changed hands.
以SC1809合约为例，上市首日便以440元每桶的价格开盘，仅仅20分钟后，就已经成交了1万4千笔。
Trading margins for the futures are set at 7 percent of the contract value. The upward and downward trading limits are at 5 percent, with the trading limits on the first trading day set at 10 percent of the benchmark prices.
上市期货的交易保证金为合约价值的7%，涨跌停板幅度为5%。上市首日，原油期货的涨跌停板幅度为基准价的10%。
Overseas investors can invest in the future contracts through various measures. At the beginning, US dollars can be used as deposit and for settlement. In the future, more currencies will be used as deposit.
海外投资者可以通过多种方式进行期货投资。在初期，美元可用于存款和结算，未来会有更多的外币加入。
China is the world's largest importer of crude oil and the introduction of RMB-denominated crude oil futures contract represents a milestone for China's futures market. It is expected to become a competitive benchmark crude with West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Blend, and Dubai Crude, which are three primary benchmarks in the world.
我国是目前世界上最大的原油进口国，推出以人民币定价的原油期货对于我国的期货市场具有里程碑式的意义。中国的原油期货将有望与当前世界上主要定价机制——西德克萨斯轻质原油（West Texas Intermediate）、北海布伦特原油（Brent Blend）、以及迪拜原油（Dubai Crude）形成有力的竞争。
02
What’s in the Barrel?
工业的血液——油桶中的奥秘
Petroleum is a naturally occurring, yellow-to-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the Earth's surface. It is commonly refined into various types of fuels. Components of petroleum are separated using a technique called fractional distillation, the separation of a liquid mixture into fractions differing in boiling point by means of distillation, typically using a fractionating column.
石油是一种经自然地质运动形成的、位于地壳下地质岩层结构中的黄黑色液体。通常石油会被提炼成各种燃料。石油组成成分的分离方法被称为分馏，即通过使用分馏塔，利用不同物质沸点的不同，将一种混合液体中的不同成分分离出来。
Petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other organic compounds. The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure.
石油主要由不同分子量的碳氢化合物和有机复合物组成。英语中的“petroleum”一词既指未经加工、天然形成的原油，也指由提炼后的原油制成的石油产品。石油是一种化石燃料，它由大量腐烂的微生物（通常是浮游生物和藻类），经过沉积和高压高温的作用而形成。
Petroleum has mostly been recovered by oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by distillation, into a large number of consumer products, from gasoline and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals.
石油主要通过油井开采得来。简单地通过蒸馏的方法，就可以把石油提炼和分离，得到一系列产品，从汽油到煤油，再到沥青和各类用于制作塑料和药品的化学试剂。
Concern over the depletion of the earth's finite reserves of oil, and the effect this would have on a society dependent on it, is a concept known as peak oil. The use of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, has a negative impact on Earth's biosphere, damaging ecosystems through events such as oil spills and releasing a range of pollutants into the air. The burning of fossil fuels plays a major role in the current episode of global warming. However, despite the countless problems, petroleum will continue to be a major source of energy instead of newly developed, still immature new energies.
地球上有限石油资源储备的减少及其对赖以石油资源生存的人类社会所产生的影响，引发了人们的担忧，这样的担忧引申出了 “石油峰值”的概念。石油等化石能源的使用对于地球生物圈产生了负面影响：原油泄漏污染、空气污染等人类活动破坏了了生态系统。化石燃料还是全球变暖的重要诱因。然而，尽管存在无数环境问题，在新能源技术尚不成熟的当下，石油恐怕将在未来很长一段时间内保持能源霸主的地位。
VOCABULARY
futures: n. 期货
trading margin: 交易保证金
zooplankton: n. 浮游生物
biosphere: n. 生物圈