今天是星期四。
我是卡爾·阿祖茲。
歡迎來到CNN學生新聞。
我們今天首先帶來的是你可能已經注意到的一個里程碑,但很多人對此並不愉快。
在美國,一加侖汽油的平均成本連續1000天內一直是至少3美元。
一些人可能已對此感到習慣,但你也可能會記得價格走低的時日。
克裡斯汀·羅曼斯會帶領我們探究增長背後的原因。
每加侖汽油平均價格最後一次在3美元以下是在2010年12月。
這一趨勢已高達十餘年之久,但看看這裡,就在2010年12月,是最後一次看見它呈現低價。
而這裡,你有超級低的價格,但卻是因為全球金融危機所致。
那麼,為什麼價格一直居高不下?這裡有幾個原因:首當其衝的是全球不穩定。
不足為奇，阿拉伯之春在2010年12月開始,大約在同一時間油價漲幅開始。
而敘利亞問題最近讓石油價格迅速攀升。
這個世界需要更多的石油。
而我們看到如中國和印度這樣的發展中國家需求在不斷增加。
我們沒有看到過去習以為常的廉價供應,對嗎?
我們從液壓破碎法和深井平臺中提取原油,而這一過程代價高昂。
但緊縮供給和需求是一些投資者們正在關注的。
它使價格上升,當你看到這一根本改變,而投資者需求—投資者需求也抬高了原油價格。
所以,這是新的正常趨勢嗎?
嗯,我們帶著疑問找到了首席石油分析師湯姆·克洛薩，但他表示這是我們現在的境況。
到新年結束,到今年年底，轉到新的一年,你可能會看到三塊錢一加侖的價格。
當然,這取決於敘利亞以及是否可以和平解決衝突。
它還同樣取決於美聯儲。
如果美聯儲應該開始逐漸恢復其債券購買計畫,這可能意味著諸如石油及投資者需求等商品的需求將會下降，
而後可能意味著較低的天然氣價格。
所以,需要關注兩樣事情:敘利亞和美聯儲。
事關你購買一加侖汽油花費多少錢。
你剛剛聽到克裡斯汀提到“美聯儲。”
她正談論的是美國聯邦儲備理事會，這個國家的中央銀行。
負責實施貨幣政策的美聯儲基本上控制國內的貨幣供給。
近年來,美聯儲購買債券和其他種類的證券以幫助陷入困境的美國經濟。
這是所謂的量化寬鬆政策實踐。
克裡斯汀提到美聯儲這一實踐後退的可能性。
昨天美聯儲宣佈不會這樣做。
美聯儲表示沒有看到現在的經濟足夠改善,所以至少一個月後它會繼續以同樣的速度購買債券。
t's Thursday.
I'm Carl Azuz.
This is CNN STUDENT NEWS.
We're jumping right in today with a milestone you might have noticed, but a lot of folks aren't too happy about.
In the United States, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline has been at least $3 for 1,000 days in a row.
Some folks might be used to it, but you also might remember when gas prices were lower.
Christine Romans looks at some of the driving forces behind the increase.
The last time the average price of a gallon of gas was under $3 a gallon was in December 2010.
The trend has been higher for a decade now, but look at this; right here in December, 2010, was the last time you saw it below.
And here, while you have super low prices here, but that was because of a global financial crisis.
So, why is gas so high? A few reasons here: first, global instability.
No surprise, the Arab Spring began in December 2010, about the same time this oil run started.
Syria concerns, more recently have kept oil prices high.
The world wants more oil.
And we're seeing rising demand for gas in the developing world, places like China and India.
We're not seeing that cheap supplies that we're used to, right?
We're getting fuel from fracking and deep water platforms, and that is expensive.
And tightening supply and demand is something that investors are watching.
It keeps prices rising when you see this-this fundamental shifts, investors demanding here- that investor demand also driving up the price of crude oil.
So, is this the new normal?
Well, we asked Tom Kloza, a chief oil analyst for gas, but he says, this is where we are now.
By the end of the new year, by the end of the year and into the new year, you could see maybe three bucks a gallon.
Of course, all that depends on Syria and whether conflict can be peacefully resolved there.
It also depends on the Fed.
If the Fed should begin to taper back its bond purchases, that could mean demand for commodities would go down, demand for things like oil, investor demand for oil,
and that could mean lower gas prices ahead.
So, watch those two things: Syria and the Fed.
That could matter to how much you're paying for a gallon of gas.
You heard Christine say "the Fed."
She's talking about the U.S. Federal Reserve, the country's central bank.
It's responsible for implementing monetary policies, basically the Fed controls the country's money supply.
In recent years, the Fed has bought bonds and other kinds of securities to try to help the struggling U.S. economy.
It's a practice called quantitative easing.
Christine mentioned the possibility of the Fed backing off that practice.
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced it won't.
The Fed said it doesn't see enough improvement in the economy right now, so it's going to keep buying bonds at the same rate for at least another month.
