英国历来是一个石油进口国,近年来,它在本国北海海域发现了一批油田。这些油田的开发对于解决英国的石油供应问题、增加财政收入和发展工业有重要意义。浩瀚的北海,在古代原是一片水草丰盛的洼地。那时,大不列颠岛和欧洲大陆是相连的,莱因河下游流经现在的北海注入北冰洋。后来北海地区 Britain has traditionally been an oil importing country, and in recent years it has discovered a number of oil fields in its own North Sea. The development of these fields is of great importance for solving the problem of oil supply in the UK, increasing revenue and developing industry. The vast North Sea, in ancient times was originally a rich depression of aquatic plants. At that time, Great Britain was connected to the European continent, and the lower Rhine River flowed through the present North Sea into the Arctic Ocean. Later, the North Sea area