Iran to OPEC: Stop Oil Sales in Dollars

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is stirring the pot again. As the dollar continues to fall, he is urging OPEC members to form a joint bank and stop pricing oil trades in U.S. dollars.

Ahmadinejad told OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri the cartel “should establish a joint bank as well as having joint currency.”

Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency’s depreciation has concerned producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves.

Iran has repeatedly urged OPEC members to shift sales away from dollar. But Iran’s proposal to trade oil in a basket of currencies is not supported by enough OPEC members, which include staunch U.S. allies such as leading producer Saudi Arabia.