AFP: Iran said Sunday that an OPEC pledge to increase financial cooperation between members meant the 13-member oil exporters group would study the issue of pricing oil in the falling US dollar. RIYADH (AFP) Iran said Sunday that an OPEC pledge to increase financial cooperation between members meant the 13-member oil exporters group would study the issue of pricing oil in the falling US dollar.
OPEC’s final summit declaration on Sunday made no explicit mention of concern about the weak US currency — which number-two exporter Iran had sought — with a plan to increase financial cooperation the only recognition of the idea.
“It is great that the finance ministers will study the subject more… and get a consensus,” Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters.
The OPEC statement said simply that the cartel would “study ways to increase financial cooperation between OPEC member countries, including a proposal by some heads of state” without giving more details.
Iran had pushed for OPEC to take collective action to price oil in other currencies such as the euro, instead of the US currency, which is used across the world at present.
The fall of the dollar, which has weakened considerably against the euro and other currencies in the past 12 months, has affected the revenues of OPEC members because most of them price and sell their oil exports in the US currency.
The issue is also political, with US arch-foe Iran keen to undermine the US currency.
