A petrodollar is a United States dollar earned by a country through the sale of its petroleum to another country.[1] The term was coined in 1973 by Georgetown University economics professor, Ibrahim Oweiss, who recognized the need for a term that could describe the dollar receiving by petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) in exchange for oil.

The term, petrodollar, should not be confused with petrocurrency which refers to the actual national currency of each petroleum exporting country.

In addition to the United States petrodollar, a petrodollar can also refer to the Canadian dollar in transactions that involve the sale of Canadian oil to other nations.

File:DOLLAR AND EURO IN THE WORLD.svg
Worldwide use of the U.S. dollar and the euro:
  United States
  External adopters of the US dollar
  Currencies pegged to the US dollar - includes many oil producing countries
  Currencies pegged to the US dollar w/ narrow band
  External adopters of the euro
  Currencies pegged to the euro
  Currencies pegged to the euro w/ narrow band
Note that the Belarusian ruble is pegged to the Euro, Russian Ruble and U.S. Dollar in a currency basket.


See also

References

Further reading

  1. The hidden hand of American hegemony : petrodollar recycling and international markets / David E. Spiro. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, 1999. xiv, 177 p. ; 25 cm. LOC call
  2. “The Choice of Currency for the Denomination of the Oil Bill," Speech given by Javad Yarjani, Head of OPEC's Petroleum Market Analysis Dept, on The International Role of the Euro (Invited by the Spanish Minister of Economic Affairs during Spain's Presidency of the EU) (April 14, 2002, Oviedo, Spain) [1]
  3. “Russia shifts to euro as foreign currency reserves soar,” AFP, June 9, 2003 [2]

External links


ar:بترودولار

ca:Petrodòlar cs:Petrodolar de:Petrodollar es:Petrodólar fr:Pétrodollar it:Petrodollaro kk:Мұнайдоллары lt:Naftodoleris ja:オイルマネー pl:Petrodolary pt:Petrodólar ro:Petrodolar ru:Нефтедоллары fi:Petrodollari sv:Petrodollar tr:Petro-dolar wa:Petrodolår zh:油元