沙特反腐风暴推高油价

Oil surged above $64 a barrel to its highest level in two years yesterday after Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on ­dozens of princes and business tycoons raised concerns over stability and ­policymaking in the world’s largest crude exporter.

油价昨日飙升至每桶64美元以上，达到两年来最高水平。此前沙特阿拉伯对数十名王子和商界大亨的打击令人担忧全球最大原油出口国的稳定和政策制定。

The sharp move in Brent crude, the international benchmark, came shortly after Saudi officials warned that they had found “widespread corruption” among suspects detained in the weekend sweep and threatened to freeze assets of those being held.

沙特官员们警告，他们发现周末被拘留的嫌疑人存在“普遍的腐败”，并威胁要冻结这些在押人员的资产。此后不久，国际基准布伦特(Brent)原油价格开始急剧变动。

Brent hit a high of $64.23 a barrel, taking gains since June to more than 40 per cent, in a move that is likely to be closely watched by central banks already monitoring rising inflation. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate hit $57.41 a barrel, its highest in two years.

布伦特原油价格触及每桶64.23美元的高点，自6月以来涨幅超过40%，这一变动可能会受到已在监测通胀上升的各家央行的密切关注。美国基准西得克萨斯中质原油(West Texas Intermediate)价格达到每桶57.41美元，创下两年来新高。

Crude was on an upward trend even before Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, launched his purge, which included the detention of billionaire investor Alwaleed bin Talal, whose holdings include stakes in Citigroup, Apple and 21st Century Fox. The crackdown was widely seen as a move to consolidate Prince Mohammed’s power as next in line to the throne.

在沙特王储穆罕默德•本•萨勒曼(Mohammed bin Salman)发起反腐运动之前，原油价格已呈现上升趋势，在花旗集团(Citigroup)、苹果(Apple)及21世纪福克斯公司(21st Century Fox)等公司都持有股份的亿万富豪阿尔瓦利德•本•塔拉勒(Alwaleed bin Talal)王子，是在这场打击行动中遭到羁押的高层人物之一。

Because Saudi Arabia is Opec’s leading member, pumping one in every nine barrels of crude globally, pol­it­­ical man­oeuv­ring there is closely watched by traders. “The impact on oil could be significant on the perceived increase in volatility in the kingdom,” said Cyril Widdershoven, at the consultancy Verocy.

因沙特阿拉伯是欧佩克(Opec)的领导成员(全球每9桶原油中就有一桶产自沙特)，交易员们密切关注着沙特政坛的一举一动。“人们形成的沙特王国动荡升级的印象，对油价的影响可能相当大，”咨询公司Verocy的西里尔•韦德肖恩(Cyril Widdershoven)说。

Kingdom Holdings, Prince Alwaleed’s investment vehicle, issued a statement saying the Saudi government expressed its “full confidence” in the group, which manages $12.5bn of assets globally.

阿尔瓦利德王子的投资工具Kingdom Holdings发布了一份声明，称沙特政府对该集团表达了“充分信心”，该集团在全球管理着125亿美元资产。

Employees have told business partners there is a vacuum of information within Kingdom Holdings, with questions swirling over the fate of the group’s assets. “Everything is on hold,” said one person close to the company. Unlike oil, shares in listed companies in which Prince Alwaleed holds large stakes were initially unaffected by his detention.

该集团的员工们告诉商业伙伴们，Kingdom Holdings内部存在信息真空，人们对集团资产的命运有很多疑问。一位知情人士称“一切事务都被搁置了。”与油价不同，阿尔瓦利德王子握有大笔股权的多家上市公司的股价，起初并未因其被拘留而受到影响。

Oil’s move above $60 has been backed by the strongest global growth since the financial crisis and Opec’s cuts to output in co-ordination with Russia and others.

油价涨至每桶60美元上方，受到金融危机以来全球经济最强劲增长的支撑，也是欧佩克与俄罗斯及其他产油国协调减产的结果。

Additional reporting by Simeon Kerr 西梅昂•克尔(Simeon Kerr)迪拜、艾哈迈德•奥姆兰(Ahmed Al Omran)利雅得补充报道

in Dubai and Ahmed Al Omran in Riyadh 译者/何黎