Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s $70 billion deal to buy BG Group PLC marks the most aggressivestep yet in the competition to be the world’s dominant supplier of liquefied natural gas—a fuel with a fast-growing and increasingly global market.

　　荷兰皇家壳牌公司斥资700亿美元收购BG Group。液化气的全球市场正在飞速增长。迄今为止，这一收购是对世界最大液化气供应商的争夺中最激进的一步。

　　The deal, announced Wednesday, would vault Shell far ahead of rivals like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. in the race to build market share for LNG, a chilled form of natural gas used for electricity generation and home heating.

　　该项收购于本周三公布。它将使壳牌的液化气市场份额远超埃克森美孚、雪佛龙等主要竞争对手。液化气是指降温后的天然气，主要用于发电和家庭供暖。

　　The tie-up is a bet that countries like China, India and others in the developing world will move toward cleaner burning fuels like natural gas instead of coal amid growing pressure to curb emissions. And it is a gamble that Asian markets will come to rely on U.S. exports of the product, when the first shipments leave the country—expected sometime in late 2015 or early next year.

　　此次合并是一场赌博。一方面赌中国、印度等发展中国家为了应对限排，将用天然气等更清洁的燃料取代煤炭;另一方面赌亚洲市场将依赖美国进口——第一批天然气预计将于2015年末或2016年初从美国运出。

　　Exxon Mobil estimates that the global trade in liquefied natural gas will more than triple through 2040, to nearly 100 billion cubic feet a day—roughly 40% higher than current U.S. gas output. The company projects that countries throughout Asia and the Pacific will import half of the gas they consume by 2040, with LNG making up 80% of imports.

　　埃克森美孚预计到2040年，全球液化气交易量将接近每天1000亿立方英尺，达到现在的3倍。这一数量超过美国天然气现产量40%。它还预计2040年以前，亚太国家消耗的天然气中一半将依靠进口，其中液化气将占80%。

　　Building up its LNG business would also give Shell some insulation from volatile oil prices, which have plummeted since last summer.

　　去年夏天开始，石油价格开始大幅下跌。发展液化气项目能够让壳牌在某种程度上避免受到油价波动的影响。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）