Hedge funds have placed one of their largest ever bets on a rally in oil prices, just as evidence mounts that energy companies are hunkering down for a delayed recovery.
对冲基金纷纷押注于油价上涨，规模已达到创纪录水品。而越来越的证据显示，能源企业则认为油价反弹将姗姗来迟。
Exchange data show hedge funds and other large speculators have accumulated a record-breaking number of North Sea Brent futures and options contracts equal to almost 265m barrels of oil — the equivalent of almost three days of global oil demand.
交易所数据显示，对冲基金以及其他大型投机者累积了创纪录的北海布伦特(Brent)原油期货和期权合约，规模接近2.65亿桶石油，相当于近3天的全球石油需求。

At the same time, oil producers and other physical market players have rushed to lock-in prices, selling forward more than half a billion Brent barrels in a bid to protect against future price falls. It is the highest level since the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) started publishing position data in early 2011.
与此同时，产油商和其他现货市场参与者则纷纷锁定价格，出售逾5亿桶布伦特原油远期合同，以规避未来油价下跌。这是自洲际交易所(Intercontinental Exchange)2011年初开始发布交易头寸数据以来的最高水平。
The split was clear this week at two major conferences on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Hedge fund managers, bankers and trading houses at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, were largely of the view that oil prices have bottomed. Brent hit a 2015 high above $65 a barrel on Thursday, having slumped to a five-year low near $45 a barrel in January.
这种分歧在本周欧美两个大型会议上得到了明显的体现。在洛桑举行的英国《金融时报》全球大宗商品峰会(FT Commodities Global Summit)上，对冲基金经理、银行家和交易机构多半认为油价已触底。布伦特原油价格在周四触及每桶65美元的今年高点，而今年1月曾跌至每桶45美元的5年低点。
At the same time in Houston, the chief executives of some of the world’s largest energy majors warned they expect prices to stay at lower levels even if the boom in US shale oil output begins to falter. US crude inventories stand at the highest level in 80 years and have risen for 15 consecutive weeks.
同时，在休斯敦，全球一些最大能源巨擘的首席执行官则警告称，即便美国页岩油产量热潮开始消退，他们预测，油价也将保持在更低水平。美国原油库存目前处于80年最高水平，已连续15周增加。
The extreme division in the oil market may make prices more volatile as both sides try to predict how Opec’s attempt to recapture market share from higher cost producers plays out.
石油市场的两种极端观点可能会加大油价波动性。双方都试图预测石油输出国组织(Opec，简称：欧佩克)将如何从成本较高的产油国那里重新取得市场份额。
Opec has increased production, since deciding not to cut output to support the oil price at its November meeting, focusing on shoring up its own share of the world market that had been hit by rising production outside the group.
在去年11月的会议上，欧佩克做出决定，不会通过减产来支撑油价，此后该组织一直在增加产量，以提高其在全球石油市场的占有率。欧佩克以外地区石油产量的不断增加侵蚀了欧佩克的市场份额。
“That will translate into more volatility both upward and downward as you basically have a market that is forced to balance itself,” Yusuf Alireza, chief executive of commodity trader Noble Group told the FT Summit.
大宗商品交易商来宝集团(oble Group)首席执行官优素福•阿里雷扎(Yusuf Alireza)在英国《金融时报》全球大宗商品峰会上表示：“这将加剧油价的上下波动，从根本上来说，市场正被迫实现自我平衡。”
While Brent hit its highest this year on Thursday, boosted by rising demand and Saudi Arabian-led air strikes on rebels in Yemen, the large hedge fund bet on Brent may pose a risk to further gains.
尽管受益于需求上升以及沙特阿拉伯领导的对也门叛乱分子的空中打击，布伦特原油价格在周四触及今年最高水平，但对冲基金巨额押注于布伦特原油，可能会对油价进一步上涨构成风险。
The previous record hedge fund position in Brent came in June last year as militants from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant advanced in Iraq — just before rising supplies in the market saw prices begin their near 60 per cent crash.
对冲基金上一次将创纪录资金押注于布伦特原油是在去年6月，当时“伊拉克与黎凡特伊斯兰国”(Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, 简称Isis)武装在伊拉克推进。但随后很快，石油供应飙升导致油价暴跌近60%。