It's now four weeks since thousands of Venezuelan oil workers and opposition supporters began their strike

数千名委内瑞拉石油工人和反对派支持者开始罢工至今已有四周

But President Chavez still shows no sign of resigning

但总统查韦斯仍未有任何辞职迹象

In the meantime

与此同时

The world's fifth largest oil producer is managing to export little more than a trickle

Its biggest customer

它最大的客户

The United States

美国

Is feeling the pain as prices have shot up

随着油价飙升，正在感受痛苦

Saudi Arabia has said it'll fill the gap

沙特已表填补之态

But the oil is needed quickly

但我们急需石油

It's fortuitous they've said this

他们这么说真是幸运

But we actually need to see oil

但我们需要看到石油

Now

现在

For instance

比如

To give you an idea

让你明白

It takes about five to six weeks for that the oil to leave Saudi Arabia and to actually get through to the US when they need it

大约需要五到六周的时间，这些石油才能从沙特阿拉伯运出，在他们需要的时候真正运达美国

The US needs the oil now

美国现在需要石油

Not in five to six weeks' time

五到六周之后

The result has been the highest oil price since September 2001

其结果是油价创下了2001年9月以来的最高

Throughout the year

一年四季

The Middle East conflict has brought successive spikes

中东冲突接连不断

But in the last six weeks

但在过去的六周里

New OPEC production limits and the Venezuelan problems have put the price up to 30

OPEC的新限产以及委内瑞拉的问题使油价升至30

And even if the strike in Venezuela is settled

即使委内瑞拉的罢工事件平息下来

The market is not expecting immediate relief

市场并不期待立即得到解脱

Prices for delivery in April next year are currently over 28 a barrel

明年4月交货的价格目前每桶超过28美元

And for June still over 26

而到了六月，价格仍高于26美元。

The reason for that

原因是什么

Of course

那是必须的

Is Iraq

是伊拉克

Iraq currently exports a mere three per cent of world oil production

伊拉克目前出口的石油仅占世界石油产量的3%。

So a war here would have little effect on global supplies

所以这里的战争对全球供应几乎没有影响

The far bigger worry is how other producers like Saudi Arabia would react to a conflict

更令人担忧的是像沙特阿拉伯这样的产油国会如何应对冲突

The only certainty

唯一确定的是

More volatility in the oil price

油价波动更大

Brian Milligan

布莱恩·米利根

BBC News

BBC新闻