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Iran
Dumps Petrodollar, Wants Euros for All Oil Sales
The war against the dollar continues
By Rudy Panko
February 08,
2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "RI"
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Reuters has
reported that Iran is requesting euros for all new
and outstanding oil payments.
Another nail in the dollar's coffin:
A
source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC)
told Reuters that Iran will charge in euros for
its recently signed oil contracts with firms
including French oil and gas major Total (TOTF.PA),
Spanish refiner Cepsa CPF.GQ and Litasco, the
trading arm of Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM).
"In our
invoices we mention a clause that buyers
of our oil will have to pay in euros,
considering the exchange rate versus the dollar
around the time of delivery," the NIOC source
said.
Lukoil
and Total declined to comment, while Cepsa did
not respond to a request for comment.
Iran has
also told its trading partners who owe it
billions of dollars that it wants to be paid in
euros rather than U.S. dollars, said the person,
who has direct knowledge of the matter.
Analysts
say that the move is not just politically motivated:
Now that sanctions have been lifted, Europe has
become one of Iran's top trading partners. So why
use dollars?
But the
decision seems to be yet another act of defiance
against dollar dominance. This week Russia became
China's biggest oil partner, thanks in part to
Moscow
accepting payment in yuan.
And last month, Iran and India announced that
they intend to settle all outstanding crude oil
payments in rupees, as part of a joint strategy to
dump the dollar and trade instead in national
currencies.
We wouldn't
be surprised if, one day not too far from now, #DumpTheDollar
will be trending on Twitter.
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