Shadowing Practice: Jet fuel shortages explained (in under 10 minutes) - BBC World Service - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello, everyone, and welcome aboard this episode of What in the World from the BBC World Service.
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Hello, everyone, and welcome aboard this episode of What in the World from the BBC World Service.
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This is your captain speaking.
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I'm Hannah Gelbart, and today we're talking about jet fuel.
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It has been a bumpy ride, and loads of you have been asking what the rising price of jet fuel means for your flights and holidays this year.
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That's because since the war in Iran started a few months ago, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively blocked.
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And it's one of the world's busiest oil shipping routes.
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So global supplies of oil have been severely disrupted.
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Jet fuel prices more than doubled after the war began.
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And the cost of some plane tickets has gone up dramatically.
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You have been sending in loads of questions about this.
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And today we're going to get some answers from Ima Moro, who is a BBC business reporter and our co-pilot here today.
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Welcome to the programme.
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Thank you very much.
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So first question, lots of people want to know, is jet fuel running out or is it just getting more expensive now?
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It's more expensive because of the possibility of it running out if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for much longer.
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Jet fuel is basically a type of kerosene which is made from crude oil and as long as the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, the possibility of airlines' jet fuel stocks basically running low is a possibility.
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There's no shortages now, flights aren't being cancelled because the airlines physically don't have fuel but the longer this situation goes on in the Middle East the more of a possibility that is and that's pushing the price up.
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Talking about planes being pilots ourselves, plane food, love it or hate it?
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I think by the time I get on the plane I'm just hungry enough that I'll eat anything.
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Oh I know I can be picky.
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Back to the more serious stuff though, flight cancellations.
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How many flights are being cancelled?
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So for the month of May airlines cut 13,000 flights from their schedules.
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That seems like a big number but it's actually only 1% of all flights globally.
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And it's important to remember that under normal circumstances, cancellations do happen, particularly on kind of budget airlines where they're operating on this business model that it's basically not profitable for them to fly a half empty plane.
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Flights get cancelled for all sorts of reasons under normal circumstances.
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But as I say, the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that we'll see cancellations because the airlines are worried about running out of fuel.
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We have put out a shout out on our social media about this, and we're going to look at some of the comments that we have been getting.
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So Rumi and Ruta are both worried about flight cancellations, and Rumi says she's worried that she'll only be notified last minute.
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Ruta says she's scared she'll have to pay extra for fuel.
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Firstly, what about Rumi's worries about last-minute flight cancellations?
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Are people being notified last minute?
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It's a mix.
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As I say, under normal circumstances, airlines do cancel flights at the last minute from time to time.
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What's happening at the moment in a lot of cases is airlines that said when the war broke out were not going to fly to these destinations in the Middle East.
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They suspended those routes and as the war goes on they're just kind of extending those suspensions so if you're flying to somewhere like Australia via Dubai and that will be quite a common route with the layover in Dubai those routes are being suspended but there are as always last minute cancellations for various reasons.
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What can you do if your flight is cancelled?
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It depends where you are in the world so check the airline's policy for cancellations check your country's cancellations policy and what your rights are in the EU passengers tend to have the most rights for cancellations delays that kind of thing
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But you don't have to be an EU citizen necessarily.
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If you're flying in or out of an EU airport, you have certain rights if your flight is cancelled or delayed.
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So definitely look those up before you fly.
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What kind of rights?
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Refunds?
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Compensation?
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Yeah, if your flight is delayed or cancelled, you basically have the right to be put on the next available flight, you have the right to be given a refund and there are certain rules around the airline has to maybe put you up in a hotel if it's going to be more than 12 hours, say.
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And to Roota's point about passengers paying extra for the fuel, ticket prices have gone up in lots of different airlines.
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Are we footing the bill?
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So if you've already paid for your flight, you're probably fine.
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Airlines can't add an extra surcharge onto a ticket you've already paid for, unless it's in their T's and C's that they have the right to do that.
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But that tends not to be the norm.
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Flight prices are going up.
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But as I say, they tend to go up and down, particularly over the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, for all sorts of reasons.
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Generally speaking, with flights, a good rule is to book as soon as you can, because the closer you get to the actual day of flying, it tends to get more expensive.
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And we've been asking you guys to send in your video notes,
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your voice note here's what you guys had to say hi i'm natumi sugira i'm from aichi prefecture in japan and currently
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working in tokyo i'm worried about a few shortage is because the flight ticket got more expensive and it's harder to see my friends and family abroad
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ima another question that is on people's minds that we've been seeing online are flights more likely to be cancelled if you're flying with a low cost or a budget airline and is there a difference if it's long-haul versus short-haul?
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So one thing that has been happening is a lot of airlines are looking more carefully at their long-haul flights because they're more fuel efficient and normally you can get away with a long-haul flight that's not completely full.
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With short-haul flights especially with budget airlines they're not profitable if they're not full or nearly full so as I say under normal circumstances a lot of budget airlines will cancel flights and put the passengers onto the next one if it's say less than half full.
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So if you're flying short haul for a summer holiday you're probably fine.
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As I say it is always worth checking the airlines kind of tease and seize their policies around cancellation.
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Check what your rights are based on where you are.
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A lot of the time with those busy summer holiday routes the next flight might just be two hours away.
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So if they put you onto the next flight there are obviously inconveniences if you have to pick up a car if you have to check into a hotel.
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But you may not be waiting you know another week to get home or to get to your holiday.
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And some people might be thinking, maybe I shouldn't get a plane at all at the moment.
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Is it just planes and jet fuel that are affected or are other forms of transport affected too?
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So basically any form of transport that uses fuel that's made from crude oil will be affected because crude oil is used to make all these different products like petrol and diesel.
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Different governments are taking different approaches to kind of potential shortages or rising prices.
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So in India, prices for petrol and diesel actually haven't gone up that much because the government intervened.
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Two states in Australia actually made public transport free for a time.
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Again, it really just depends on where you are.
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And some people might be thinking, you know, from a sustainability, from an environmental angle, that actually this might be good for the environment.
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And we got a comment from Mo, who said that less air traffic is going to be a real boom for the planet.
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How true is that?
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So aviation accounts for 2.5% of all carbon emissions.
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And that's projected to go up by 2050 if, you know, changes aren't made, if aviation fuel doesn't become more sustainable.
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but only 1% of the world's population is responsible for more than half of passenger emissions and a lot of people have never taken a flight in their lives.
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We don't know if this particular disruption is going to have an effect on the amount of flights taken, the amount of emissions that are created by aviation fuel.
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It really just depends on how much longer the strait is closed.
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And if planes are trying to fill them up so no planes are flying half full because they want to try and save jet fuel, could that also be a good thing for the environment?
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Is that something that planes, And why aren't they doing that already?
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Well, some of them do, particularly with budget airlines.
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As I said earlier, their sort of business model is really predicated on flights being full or almost full.
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Because if you compare it with a long haul flight, you have your business passengers paying more, you might also get paid for transporting cargo.
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So what we might see is fewer long haul flights that are more full.
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But for short haul flights and your budget airlines, they pretty much do operate at capacity already.
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And this has re-spark the conversation about alternatives to jet fuel because crude oil has so been affected.
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Where are we at with ecofuel and other more sustainable alternatives?
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So there is a product called sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, which is made from waste products like old cooking oil.
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Really, really interesting development there.
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But generally speaking, that's very early days.
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It's a very young kind of industry.
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At the moment, it's much more expensive than jet fuel.
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So probably won't see any kind of significant uptake of SAF in the near future, but hopefully it's going in that direction.
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Yeah.
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I want to read you one more comment.
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This is something we got from Anita who said, let's just stay home for six months.
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If the war ended tomorrow and the Strait of Hormuz reopened, how long would it take to get flights back to normal?
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It's hard to put a figure on it because transporting oil, transporting oil products takes a really long time.
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And so it takes six weeks to get from the Strait of Hormuz to Europe normally.
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So in Europe, they normally have at least 34 days supply of jet fuel.
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At the moment, it's 30.
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And if it goes down to, I think, 23, that's when the airlines will really start worrying about could our pumps literally dry up.
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That's not happening at the moment.
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But the longer the straight stays closed, the more of a possibility that will become.
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If the straight open tomorrow, the shortages worry would certainly ease.
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But because of that time lag with refining the crude oil into usable products like jet fuel, there would still be some probably price pressures as the airlines deal with less access to jet fuel than they normally have.
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Thank you for answering our questions.
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Thank you very much.
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On behalf of everyone at What's in the World, thank you for choosing us as your podcast today.
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And if you want more in-flight entertainment, do check out some of our other episodes.
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You can find them on the BBC World Service YouTube channel or wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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We hope that you have a pleasant onward journey and we're really grateful for your thoughts, comments, video notes, voice notes.
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Please do keep sharing them with us on YouTube, on Instagram at BBC What in the World or on WhatsApp.
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For now I'm Hannah this is What in the World from the BBC World Service and we'll see you next time.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will enhance your English speaking practice by exploring vocabulary and phrases related to the topic of jet fuel shortages. The transcript discusses the impact of geopolitical issues on fuel prices and flight schedules, providing an excellent context for you to practice speaking and understanding complex subjects in English. This lesson will help you improve your ability to discuss current events and engage in conversations about travel and economics, crucial skills for the IELTS speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Jet fuel - A type of fuel used in aviation.
- Strait of Hormuz - A significant oil shipping route in the Middle East.
- Flight cancellations - When airlines cancel scheduled flights.
- Compensation - Financial recompense given to passengers for issues like delays or cancellations.
- Airlines - Companies that provide air transportation services for passengers.
- Crude oil - Unrefined petroleum that is processed to produce fuels.
- Notification - The act of informing someone about an event or situation.
Practice Tips
To make the most out of this lesson, consider using the shadowspeak technique. Listen to the video at a moderate speed, and repeat what you hear, mirroring the speaker's tone and rhythm. Since the presenter speaks clearly but at a conversational pace, it provides an excellent opportunity for shadow speaking. Focus on intonation and pauses, which are crucial for effective communication.
To target the specific vocabulary provided, try to create sentences using each term, and practice them aloud. For example, you could state, "The jet fuel price has increased because of issues in the Strait of Hormuz." Recording yourself while practicing can also help you track your progress. Additionally, consider joining English speaking practice groups or forums to further engage in discussions about related topics, enhancing your fluency and confidence.
Regularly practicing these phrases will improve your comfort with discussing complex subjects, a valuable skill for anyone preparing for the IELTS speaking practice. Happy learning!
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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