Saudi Arabia rejects reports of plans to lower dollar in oil currency



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"The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources today said that recently-released allegations that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia threatens to sell its oil in foreign currencies other than the dollar are inaccurate and do not reflect Saudi Arabia's position on this, "said the president. from the Saudi press agency reads. It is the official press agency of the kingdom.

The statement follows reports that Riyadh was planning to switch from the greenback to other currencies in its oil trade in response to US Congress anti-OPEC legislation.

Reuters reported last week, quoting unnamed sources, that the move from US dollars to other currencies had been discussed in high Saudi circles and that it had also been leaked to US officials in the US Treasury Department. energy.

OPEC's (Saudi Arabia) offensive against the oil-free cartels law was reached after UAE Oil Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei reportedly told lenders at of the meeting that if the bill were passed, OPEC members being subject to US anti-cartel legislation, the group, which is for all practical purposes a cartel, would separate and each member would increase production at its maximum.

According to the SPA press release, however, "the Kingdom has been trading oil in dollars for decades, which has served the purposes of its financial and monetary policy well."

The traditionally tight relations between Washington and Riyadh began to deteriorate following the collapse of the oil price in 2014 and intensified after the general outcry over the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, critic of the Crown Prince Mohammed.

Tension mounted again when a group of US lawmakers introduced the NOPEC bill, which aimed to hold OPEC members accountable under US cartel laws. According to Reuters sources, Riyadh continued to drop the dollar for the oil trade in its sleeve as "the nuclear option".

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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