EVP Delcy Rodriguez Calls for Oil Market De-Dollarization

On Thursday, at the XXVI International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2023, Delcy Rodríguez, Executive Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, questioned the current international energy trade and called for the de-dollarization of the market.

Related:

Venezuela: A New International Economic Order Key for WT

During her speech at the forum, Rodríguez recalled the proposal of the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “to have inter-regional trade in local currencies at the summit organized by Mexico.”

According to Rodríguez, there are countries already selling oil and gas in other currencies. "We are already beginning to see Arab countries, Gulf countries that are beginning to sell their crude oil and gas in currencies other than the US dollar," she said.

Furthermore, she also questioned the oil market current situation, stating: "Why should the international oil market trade only in a currency that barely represents a fifth of what international energy trade is itself?"

According to Rodríguez, “the mass of money circulating in the US economy is located at 21 trillion dollars, but if we look at the mass of money circulating in the international oil market, this figure is five times greater, that is, 104 trillion dollars.”

“Another fundamental task is to create new payment channels different from this network created by the American SWIFT,” Rodríguez said.

"Let's move forward for a new international economic order of justice, balance, inclusion and compensation," she said at the end of her speech.

Official records show that, more than 100 delegations and nations of the world in the SPIEF 2023 were present in the forum.