The oil and gas sector, once worth a combined $3 trillion, is now worth less than Apple’s $1.5 trillion market capitalization. If it wanted, the Cupertino, California technology company could purchase the world’s most expensive private oil and gas firm, ExxonMobil, for $198 billion with cash to spare.
曾经，石油天然气行业总价值为3万亿美元，但现在却低于苹果1.5万亿美元的市值。这家位于加利福尼亚州库比蒂诺的技术公司如果愿意，它可以收购全球市值最高的私人石油天然气公司埃克森美孚公司，还能剩1980亿美元。
That’s quite a reversal of fortunes. For years, the oil and gas industry delivered consistent returns to Wall Street. Its lucrative dividends, around 6% at leading firms, gave investors a reason stick with the stocks despite a darkening outlook and the looming threat of climate policies. With oil hovering around $60 per barrel, nothing seemed to phase investors.
真是命运轮回。石油天然气公司多年来持续为华尔街带来收入。约占龙头企业利润6%的丰厚红利让投资者在前景黯淡和气候政策会造成威胁的情况下，仍坚持投资股票。稳定在60美元每桶的石油价格似乎牢牢抓住了投资者。
But in 2016, fracking opened up the taps on cheap US shale oil. Then the coronavirus pandemic crushed demand just as a price war between Russia and Saudia Arabia flooded the world with cheap oil. That drove the price of benchmark crude, briefly, into negative territory, and it now hovers at about $40 per barrel, where it seems destined to stick.
但在2016年，水力压裂法打通了美国廉价的页岩油的渠道，疫情又降低了人们的需求，俄罗斯和沙特阿拉伯之间的价格战让全球石油价格下跌。这就是使得标准原油的价格暂时出现负增长，现在每桶价格稳定在40美元，而且似乎还要持续一段时间。
With oil prices now far below what many non-state-owned oil firms need to make a profit, massive job losses have struck the US industry as production is curtailed. Royal Dutch Shell slashed its dividend by two-thirds, the first time in 80 years.
现在的石油价格远不能让很多非国有的石油公司获利，美国工业因为减产造成大量人员失业。荷兰皇家壳牌集团股息降了三分之二，属80年来首次。
The oil and gas sector has now underperformed the S&P 500 market index for years. It lags behind performance of renewables, too. While the decline began in 2017, the last year has seen oil and gas stocks drop by 35% just as shares in major renewable firms have risen by the same percentage.
石油天然气行业的行情已经多年不及标准普尔500指数，也比不上可再生能源。虽然从2017年就开始下滑，但去年石油天然气行业的股票下跌了35%，而大型可再生能源公司的股票上涨了35%。