A Price Worth Paying. The Economist July 6th,2013
物有所值。《经济学人》，2013年7月6日
One of India's big strategic worries is energy security. It imports most of its oil. It has lots of coal but struggles to dig it up, mainly because of the state mining monopoly's ineptitude. Gas is in demand but too little is pumped: by 2016 two-fifths of India's supply is likely to come from expensive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). All this leaves India exposed to supply interruptions in the Middle East and elsewhere, and strains its balance of payments.
印度的重大战略目标之一是能源供给问题。它的大部分石油依赖进口。印度拥有大量的煤炭，但很难开采出来，主要是因为国家矿业垄断者的渎职。天然气需求量很大，但输送出来的却很少：到2016年，印度供气的2/5可能来自昂贵的进口液化天然气（LNG)。这一切使得印度中东及其他地区会导致供电中断的危险，并缩紧其国际收支平衡。
The country is thought to have huge potential reserves of oil and gas—perhaps the world's 15th-largest, reckons the Boston Consulting Group. But only about one-fifth of likely hydrocarbon-bearing basins are classified as "well explored". One reason is that the price domes- gas producers receive has been tightly capped at a dismal level: between $2 and $5 per million British thermal units (it varies by field and producer). Imported LNG fetches much more—around $12.
据波士顿咨询公司测算，这个国家拥有巨大的石油和天然气潜在资源储量，或许是第十五大资源国。但是只有大约1/5的可能含烃盆地，属于“方便开发”的。其中一个原因就是国内天然气生产商得到的价格被严格的限制在一个很低的水平：介于每百万英国热量单位2美元和5美元之间（由不同的场地和制造商区分）。进口液化天然气则获取更多，大约12美元左右。
The government at last bit the bullet on June 28th, unveiling a part-liberalisation of prices. Its new formula, based on a mix of the cost of imported LNG and gas prices on world markets, will mean producers get $8.40 from next April. The change should spur investment but is controversial. Industries that use lot of gas fear a financial shock. As a result, the state will cushion the impact of higher prices on fertiliser-makers, and gas-fired power stations will be allowed to pass the increased cost onto customers. Thank you.
6月28日，政府最终决定公布一部分自由化的价格。这一基于进口液化天然气的混合成本和天然气的国际市场价格的新准则，意味着从明年4月起，制造商可拿到8.40美元的价格。这个变化将会刺激投资但这也是有争议的。那些消耗大量天然气的行业却担心会面临金融冲击。因此，国家可减轻高涨的物价对化肥制造商的影响，并且，以煤气为燃料的发电站可将增加的成本转嫁到消费者身上。谢谢。
