The heads of the world’s largest oil trading houses called an end to a near two-year price slump yesterday as Brent crude rose to its highest level of 2016.

全球各大石油交易机构的掌门人昨日预计持续近两年的油价低迷即将结束，同时布伦特(Brent)原油价格升至今年最高水平。

Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria, Gunvor, Glencore and Castleton, which sell enough oil to meet almost a fifth of global demand, were all but unanimous in telling a Financial Times conference in Lausanne that oil prices were unlikely to revisit the sub-$30 lows of January.

在英国《金融时报》在瑞士洛桑举行的一次会议上，Vitol、Trafigura、Mercuria、Gunvor、嘉能可(Glencore)和Castleton几乎一致表示，油价不太可能重新跌回1月每桶30美元以下的低点。这些机构销售的石油足以满足全球近五分之一的需求。

Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed by nearly 4 per cent to a four-month high of almost $45 a barrel amid mounting expectation of a deal to freeze production at this weekend’s Opec summit.

国际油价基准布伦特原油价格昨日上涨近4%，达到每桶近45美元的4个月高点，越来越多的人预期，本周末的石油输出国组织（Opec，简称欧佩克）峰会将达成一项冻结产量的协议。

Igor Sechin, the head of the Kremlin-backed oil company Rosneft, echoed the traders’ view, and argued that a price of at least $50 a barrel was needed to avert future supply shortages. “The oil price is growing. I think everyone is expecting the successful outcome of our work,” Mr Sechin told the FT conference, in an apparent reference to a possible deal. “We will need higher price levels than $45 or even $50 a barrel.”

俄罗斯政府支持的俄罗斯石油公司(Rosneft)首席执行官伊戈尔•谢欣(Igor Sechin)呼应了上述交易机构的观点，认为要避免未来的供应短缺，油价需要至少达到每桶50美元。谢欣在英国《金融时报》的这次会议上表示：“油价在上涨。我认为，所有人都期待我们的工作取得成功的结果，”他这里显然指的是有望达成一项协议。“我们将需要比每桶45美元甚至50美元更高的价格。”

The remarks came ahead of a weekend meeting in Qatar when Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia and other big oil producers, including Russia and Venezuela, will try to freeze output in a bid to hasten the end of an oil glut. This would be the first significant concerted action to stabilise prices since the oil price went into freefall in late 2014.

他是在欧佩克本周末在卡塔尔召开峰会之前发表上述言论的，届时欧佩克老大沙特阿拉伯以及包括俄罗斯和委内瑞拉在内的其他大型产油国将试图冻结产出，以加快结束石油供应过剩局面。这将是自2014年末油价暴跌以来的首项稳定油价的重大联合举措。

Mr Sechin did not directly address the Opec meeting but said that there were signs that the market was tightening already as US output contracted.

谢欣没有直接谈到欧佩克会议，但他表示，有迹象表明，随着美国产出收缩，市场已在趋紧。