OPEC SEEKS USING EURO IN OIL DEALS

Tuesday, January 19th 2010 7:39 AM

Tehran, Jan. 19 (AKnews) - Iran's representative to OPEC says the group weighs replacing the dollar by the euro in crude oil pricing, adding that no decision has been made.

"Members of OPEC are free (to use any currency) in their oil transactions," said Mohammad Ali Khatibi on Sunday.

He added that Iran receives 90 percent of its oil revenues in currencies other than the US dollar.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered in September 2009 the replacement of the US dollar by the euro in the country's foreign exchange accounts.

Earlier, the Islamic Republic of Iran had announced that the euro would replace the greenback in the country's oil transactions.

Also, Iran's Trade Promotion Organization announced in 2009 that it would completely exclude the US dollar from the country's foreign revenues and reserves.

Iran has recently asked Japan to replace the US dollar with the yen in oil deals it has with the Islamic Republic.

The constantly declining value of the dollar and persisting economic crisis in the US has encouraged many countries to drop the currency in favor of a more stable one.

Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Venezuela, Sudan and Russia have taken steps to replace the US dollar in their foreign exchange reserves.

Earlier in November, the head of Iran's Bank Melli (BMI) said Iran's Central Bank and BMI have entered into negotiations with some countries and international banks regarding the use of the Iranian rial, the official currency of Iran, in international transactions and operations.

mags AKnews

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