OPEC May Trade Oil in Euros to Compensate for US Freefall

OPEC May Trade Oil in €uros to Compensate for US$ Freefall
Thursday, Dec 11, 2003 		

By: David Coleman - VHeadline.com
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General, 
former Venezuelan Energy & Mines Minister Alvaro Silva Calderon says the 
oil cartel is seriously considering to abandon the US$ as a trading 
currency and to adopt the €ur0 to compensate for the US$'s recently 
plummeting international value.

The plan is to ditch the greenback in one way or another and an alternative 
proposal is to trade international oil in a basket of currencies other than 
the US$, Silva Calderon says in an telephone interview from Vienna 
(Austria) with Venezuelan state news agency, VENPRES.  "There is talk of 
trading crude in €uros ... it's one of the alternatives!"

Arab nations are mindful of the fact that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's 
decision to convert his country's international trading to the €uro may 
have accelerated the US/UK invasion of Iraq but they are somewhat 
strengthened by China's plans backed by similar Russian plans to join the 
€uro as the US currency continues its freefall.

Meeting in Vienna last week, OPEC oil ministers had expressed concern over 
the US$'s demise against the €uro and Japanese ¥en where many OPEC members 
nations are more reliant on imports from Europe and Japan than Stateside. 
Washington's crippling trade deficit and fears that the Bush 2 regime is 
printing more banknotes than it can possibly cover, have exacerbated the 
situation.

The US$ has just hit a new low against the €uro with the European common 
currency reaching US$=€1.2276 in a 3-year low also against the ¥en at 
107.19 ... Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi says last week's decision to keep 
its target output ceiling stable at 24.5 million barrels a day was partly 
due in part to the weakening dollar.

Original article: VHeadline
-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
		--Brecht.



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