Nigeria unveils provisional oil infrastructure agreements with China
尼日利亚与中国签署能源基建协议
广州能源翻译公司：北京方面愿意在非洲最大经济体遭遇数十年最严重危机之际伸出援手，但协议最终能否落实仍然存疑。
Nigeria says it has signed provisional deals worth $80bn with Chinese companies to upgrade its oil and gas infrastructure, in a sign of Beijing’s willingness to bolster Africa’s largest economy during its worst crisis in decades.
尼日利亚宣布已经与中国企业签署了价值800亿美元的初步协议，拟对该国的石油和天然气基础设施进行升级改造，这个迹象表明北京方面愿意在非洲最大经济体遭遇数十年最严重危机时伸出援手。广州能源翻译公司。
The memorandums of understanding cover all aspects of Nigeria’s energy sector, from rehabilitating decaying refineries and building new pipelines to developing the neglected gas and power sectors, the country’s state oil company NNPC said.
国有的尼日利亚国家石油公司(NNPC)表示，这些谅解备忘录涵盖该国能源行业的各个方面，从改造陈旧的炼油厂和建造新管道，到开发被忽视的天然气和电力行业。
The agreements were reached during a visit this week to Beijing by Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s oil minister. NNPC said 38 Chinese companies were involved in the agreements, including Sinopec, an oil group, and Norinco, a weapons maker.
这些协议是在尼日利亚石油部长伊曼纽尔•伊笔•卡希库(Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu)本周访问北京期间达成的。NNPC表示，这些协议涉及38家中国企业，包括石油企业中石化(Sinopec)和军工集团北方工业(Norinco)。广州能源翻译公司。
However, it was not immediately clear how the deals would be financed and industry observers are waiting to see whether the agreements will be implemented.
然而，尚不清楚这些协议的资金将怎么解决，行业观察家们认为，对于它们会不会落实，还需观望一段时间。
Nigeria badly needs investment to boost oil production and improve fuel and power supplies for its 180m people. In spite of its oil riches, the country imports nearly all of its fuel because its rundown refineries cannot process crude.
尼日利亚迫切需要投资以提高石油产量，并改善面向国内1.8亿人口的燃油和电力供应。尽管坐拥大量石油储量，但该国几乎所有燃料都是进口的，因为其陈旧的炼油厂无法加工原油。
“Clearly this shows that China is interested [in investing in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector] — there isn’t the same appetite from the west,” said Dolapo Oni, head of energy research for Ecobank in Lagos.
“显然，这表明中国有兴趣（投资于尼日利亚油气行业），而西方没有这样的胃口，”拉各斯Ecobank能源研究主管多拉普•奥尼(Dolapo Oni)表示。广州能源翻译公司。
Nigeria has been Africa’s top oil producer, but a fresh bout of insurgent attacks in the Niger Delta this year has slashed output to its lowest level in 25 years. The government said this week that production had returned to 1.9m barrels per day, but industry insiders say that figure seems too high, as one of the country’s biggest export terminals, the Shell-operated Forcados facility, remains closed after an attack.
尼日利亚一直是非洲最大的产油国，但今年尼日尔三角洲遭遇新的一波叛乱分子袭击，使该国石油产量降至25年来最低水平。政府本周表示，产量已恢复至每日190万桶，但业内人士表示，这个数字似乎偏高，因为该国最大的出口终端之一，壳牌(Shell)经营的福卡多斯(Forcados)港口，在遭受袭击后一直关闭。
The violence has coincided with the decline in oil prices that has plunged Nigeria — it relies on petrodollars for 90 per cent of its export earnings — into a deepening economic crisis.
暴力活动卷土重来之际，适逢石油价格下跌，这使90%出口收入依赖石油的尼日利亚越来越深地陷入经济危机。广州能源翻译公司。
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, first turned to China for support during a visit to the country in April, when he secured $6bn in loan pledges for infrastructure and inked a currency-swap deal. However, there has been no news since of when either deal will be implemented.
尼日利亚总统穆罕马杜•布哈里(Muhammadu Buhari)在4月访华期间首次向中国寻求支持，那次他争取到了60亿美元的基础设施贷款承诺，还签署了一份货币互换协议。但是，在这两项合作何时落实的问题上一直没有下文。
Mr Buhari, who took office last year, has pledged to overhaul the NNPC and reform Nigeria’s oil industry, which is notorious for corruption and wastage. But there is still confusion among western oil majors and other would-be investors over crucial issues such as the future structure of joint ventures.
去年上台的布哈里承诺对NNPC进行整改，并在以腐败和浪费闻名的尼日利亚石油业推行改革。但是，西方大型石油企业和其他潜在投资者对于一些关键问题（如合资企业的未来结构）仍存在困惑。
Amid this uncertainty in the sector, observers are sceptical about the implementation of the agreements announced this week.
在该行业弥漫这种不确定性的情况下，观察人士对本周公布的这些协议会不会落实表示怀疑。
