Riyadh.- A feeble US dollar is one of the destabilizing factors in the oil market, said Minister of Energy and Petroleum and PDVSA Chief Executive Officer Rafael Ramirez in Riyadh.

“It is patent. The US dollar is well below its value in recent years. This has made our trading vulnerable and, above all, it covers the oil market reality. Should we trade in Euros, perhaps no such situation would be faced,” he said.

The minister reported that the heads of state would have the chance to deal with this matter during a session behind closed doors as part of the OPEC third summit beginning on Saturday 17th in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia.

Ramírez said that the issue of a baseline currency both for trading and the crude oil basket should be defined with technical accuracy. “Both the benchmark crude oils and the currency used for trading should be reviewed,” he insisted on saying.

“We have noted that the benchmark is not in line with reality. As a matter of fact, the multiple baskets we have, that is, the OPEC basket and the basket of each member countries are a signal.”

“We do view as dangerous that the oil market is subject to the US dollar ups and downs. As we know, the US administration, following the decision made by US President Richard Nixon to discontinue the gold standard, is prepared to do whatever needed, resulting in destabilization in the world market, particularly the oil market.”