Beginning today with an 80000 ton oil shipment from their Arctic fields, Gazprom Neft agreed to new terms on the sale and transfer of oil through the Eastern Siberian-Pacific Ocean pipeline to China, and facilitating the future sale of oil and gas to both Europe and China through a currency other than the dollar. And although this is not the first real transaction for oil done outside the petro-dollar, as this occurred covertly by Iran for gold during the days of economic sanctions, it is the first official global offering by a major oil producer and will likely bring an end to the solitary system of nations being forced to buy dollars first before buying oil from producers such as OPEC and Russia.I think this development portends a major threat to the US dollar which is one of two major pillars that support the US Empire. This represents another step in the increasingly dangerous conflict between mainly Russian and Chinese capitalist gangs on one side and the US-led capitalist gang on the other. (The other pillar supporting the US Empire is its huge military establishment including its control of NATO.)
Controlling a money supply has always meant controlling how money is spent and for what. Thus, major Empire controlled financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank usually loan US dollars based on restrictions as to what it is spent for. These conditions typically require nations to buy from US or allied corporations, to open up countries for Western investments, and to generally promote neoliberal policies.
Thus, the times we are living in are more dangerous than ever, and we can only expect worse things to come if we prove to be unable to rid the world of the predatory system of capitalism and governments controlled by capitalists.
