Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia threatened to switch to currencies other than the dollar in oil trades, if the US passes a bill exposing members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to antitrust lawsuits, Reuters reported.
The move was discussed by senior Saudi energy officials in recent months, the news agency, citing three sources familiar with Riyadh’s energy policy. The option was deliberated with OPEC members, two of the sources said.
The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC), first introduced in 2000, aims to lift sovereign immunity from US antitrust law, allowing OPEC member states to be sued for withholding output in an attempt to increase oil prices.
Riyadh communicated the threat to senior US energy officials, one source briefed on oil policy told Reuters.
“The Saudis say: let the Americans pass NOPEC and it would be the US economy that would fall apart,” the source said.
Such threat voiced Saudi annoyance about the potential legal challenges to OPEC.
Despite improbable, ditching the dollar in oil transactions would undermine the greenback hegemony, in which it remains the world’s main reserve currency, and consequently would subdue Washington’s influence in global trade and weaken its ability to sanction nations, Reuters said.
This also would bode well with major non-OPEC oil producers such as Russia, major importers such as China and the European Union (EU).
