Venezuela will continue to push a proposal within the OPEC to find a
new reference measure for crude prices and to eventually demand payment
for crude in some other currency than the dollar, the country's oil
minister said Tuesday.
"We're working on a scheme to, first of all get paid in an
alternate currency (other than the dollar) and to search for a new
crude reference," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said during an interview
on state television. "The Brent and the West Texas Intermediate (crude
indicators) are both pegged to the dollar," and that's no good, he
said.
Venezuela and Iran have both pushed within the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries to create a basket of currency to
price their crude in the future. Both put the issue on the table during
the most recent meeting of OPEC heads of state but no agreement was
reached on the issue.
The dollar's slide in recent years, they argue, has created
distortions for the world's oil market. "The dollar is very weak. It
has lost a lot of value," said Ramirez. "Creating a basket of
currencies is a serious need." The minister offered no further details
of the proposal.
Ramirez admitted, however, that OPEC members have differing
ideas about the subject, but he shrugged that off and suggested the
proposal will find a way to move forward.
The Andean country is expected to insist on that issue during the upcoming 146th OPEC meeting slated for Dec. 5.