Global oil prices have fallen to their lowest level in nine months, despite fears that conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq would increase prices.

Brent crude oil has fallen to $103.70 (£62) a barrel, its lowest rate since November 2013. In July, oil hit its highest level in nine months, valued at $115.71 per barrel. Violence in Iraq was cited as the reason for the rise. The current fall in price has led to an increase in demand from wealthy states.

Iraq has scheduled to export about 2.4 million barrels per day of Basra Light crude in September, up from 2.2 million in the previous month.

The International Energy Agency said that while tensions in Iraq and fighting in Ukraine continued, other oil resources were available, such as those of the US, Libya and Saudi Arabia. It had been thought that sanctions taken by the US and EU on Russia over its support for Ukrainian rebels might affect oil distribution.

Oil analyst Malcolm Bracken said there has some sign of the downing of the oil prices in the beginning of August. And there was no need to worry about Russian oil, as the most testing time was past. He said: "Russia's oil flows west, and [Mr Putin] needs our money even more than we need his oil. This limits his choices more than ours.

"It is the largest oil producer in the world, at over 10 billion barrels equivalent per day or 13% of world supply. Russia turning the taps off would cause an oil crisis in the West as it would cause a steep rise in prices and significant disturbance, especially in Germany. It would also bankrupt the Russian state."

Concerns over Iraq have also been mounting. Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told the BBC: "We do not expect southern Iraqi oil exports to be impacted by the current conflict, as the fields remain far away from where the fighting is currently ongoing. It will not be possible for the world to replace Iraqi production, simply because the world doesn't have that much spare capacity available."

本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！

1.What could be the possible reason for the current decline of the oil prices?

A The conflicts in Iraq.

B The increasing demand of wealthy countries.

C The large amount of oil export of Iraq.

D The availability of oil in US, Libya, etc.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据文章第四段The International Energy Agency said that while tensions in Iraq and fighting in Ukraine continued, other oil resources were available, such as those of the US, Libya and Saudi Arabia可知，伊拉克和乌克兰的紧张局势并没有导致油价上升，由于美国、利比亚和沙特的石油资源丰富、稳定，使得世界石油的价格处于9个月来的最低点。

2.What can we infer from the passage?

A Wealthy countries need large amount of oil.

B The West depend largely upon Russian oil.

C Russia needs money most at the moment.

D Oil crisis may happen at any time.

解析：选B。B。推理判断题。根据文章第五、六段可以判断，西方国家对俄罗斯石油依赖性很大—如果俄罗斯停止对西方出口石油，将导致西方国家的石油危机和社会混乱。

3.What would happen if Russia stops exporting oil?

A Mr Putin will have more choices.

B Russia’s oil will stop flowing west.

C Disturbance will arise in Russia.

D Oil prices will rise sharply.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据文章第六段it would cause a steep rise in prices可知，如果俄罗斯停止对西方国家出口石油，将会造成石油大幅涨价。

4.What does the underlined word refer to in Paragraph Five？

A Germans.

B Westerners.

C Iraqis.

D Ukrainians.

解析：选B。B。猜测词义题。根据文章语境：west, our money, in the West可以判断，we此处指的是西方国家的人。

5.What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A The Iraqi conflicts will not affect its oil exports.

B More people are concerned about oil capacity in Iraq.

C Oil production in Iraq is incomparable.

D The conflicts in Iraq are going on near the oil fields.

解析：选C。C。推理判断题。根据文章最后一段It will not be possible for the world to replace Iraqi production可以判断，伊拉克的石油生产量在世界上是难以匹敌的。因此作者不希望伊拉克的冲突对石油出口造成影响。