confuse with phrase

Question

Do the funtions of the phrases are correct in the following sentences?

1. Welcome to Oil shock 2005: the spot price of crude oil hit $68 last Thursday before easing slightly the following day.

Welcome to Oil shock 2005 - phrase as adjectival modifying "the spot price of crude oil"

before easing slightly the following day- present participle phrase as adverbial of circumstance.

2. With the price of oil on the rise, its effects in Asia, hitting producers and consumers alike, can be seen everywhere.

With the price of oil on the rise - a phrase as adverbial of circumstance

its effects in Asia - a phrase as subject of the sentence

hitting producers and consumers alike - a phrase as adjectival modifying " its effects in Asia "

3. Last week Beijing continued its push to secure foreign energy reserves when China National Petroleum trumped an indian firm by offering $2.4 b for Petrokazakhstan.

to secure foreign energy reserves - a phrase as adverbial of purpose

offering $2.4 b for Petrokazakhstan - present participle phrase as noun and work as object of prepostion "by"

4. In Guangdon, motorists lined up for hours at filling stations to fill tanks with petrol suddenly in short supply.

for hours at filling stations - a phrase as adverbial of circumstance

to fill tanks with petrol suddenly in short supply - infinitive phrase as adverbial of purpose

5. In Indonesia, by spending $1b a month to subsidize fuel the Government is keeping petrol at 27c a litre, thereby risking a rerun of the 1998 financial crisis.

by spending $1b a month to subsidize fuel - present participle phrase as adverbial of reason

thereby risking a rerun of the 1998 financial crisis - present participle phrase as adverbial of result

6. In the Philippines, working a 4-day week and rationing petrol are options being considered to cope with the higher oil prices.

working a 4-day week and rationing petrol - present participle as subject of the sentence

being considered to cope with the higher oil prices - present participle as object complement of options

Thanks for help

Paco2004 · Accepted Answer

Humm.. your questions are always tough.

1. Welcome to Oil shock 2005: the spot price of crude oil hit $68 last Thursday before easing slightly the following day.
I can't give any definition to "Welcome to Oil shock 2005". To me this seems an independent absolute nominal phrase, because a colon is used to connect two sentences vaguely. "Welcome to Oil shock 2005" might be taken also as something like a quote. "Before easing …" is a time-adverbial using a combination of <before + a gerund>.

2. With the price of oil on the rise, its effects in Asia, hitting producers and consumers alike, can be seen everywhere.
I would rather analyze "with the price of oil on the rise" as a kind of time or cause adverbial. It is saying like "As the price of oil is rising". "Hitting producers and consumers" is a participle construct to explain what the subject is doing with the event stated in the main clause. It may be termed "participle adverbial phrase for circumstance".

3. Last week Beijing continued its push to secure foreign energy reserves when China National Petroleum trumped an Indian firm by offering $2.4 b for Petrokazakhstan.
Yes, "to secure foreign energy reserves" is an infinitival phrase as adverbial of purpose. "By offering $2.4 b for Petrokazakhstan" is an adverbial of means to modify "trumped". "Offering" is not a present participle phrase but a gerund.

4. In Guangdon, motorists lined up for hours at filling stations to fill tanks with petrol suddenly in short supply.
"For hours" is a duration adverbial and "at filling stations" is a place adverbial. Yes, "to fill tanks with petrol suddenly in short supply" is an infinitival phrase working as an adverbial of purpose.

5. In Indonesia, by spending $1b a month to subsidize fuel, the Government is keeping petrol at 27c a litre, thereby risking a rerun of the 1998 financial crisis.
"By spending $1b a month to subsidize fuel" is an adverbial of means using a construct of <by + a gerund>. Yes, "thereby risking a rerun of the 1998 financial crisis" could be taken as a present participle phrase working as adverbial of result

6. In the Philippines, working a 4-day week and rationing petrol are options being considered to cope with the higher oil prices.
"Working a 4-day week and rationing petrol" is two coordinated gerunds as subject of the sentence. "Being considered to cope with the higher oil prices" is a present participle modifying "options". You can get the meaning by supplying "which are", that is, "options which are being considered to cope ...".

paco

confuse with phrase

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