Venezuela wants to submit Petro to OPEC as a unit of account for oil

If you followed our coverage of Venezuelan Petro, you know that it has been largely criticized on the global stage. It certainly doesn’t have the best reputation among cryptocurrencies and investors, because of various reasons that you can read more in the links below. This however, will not stop President Maduro and his quest to make Petro recognized worldwide or at least save the Venezuelan economy from the devastating inflation.

Venezuela will make an attempt to present the digital currency as a unit of account for crude oil trading to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next year. Manuel Quevedo, the President of the country’s oil company PDVSA and also the Minister of Oil and Mining shared the country’s intentions to present the Petro as the main digital currency backed by oil. Quevedo also stated that the it will be offered as a unit of account for global crude oil trading. Additionally, all Venezuelan oil will be traded for Petro.

Will Petro succed in this mission?

OPEC is a global organization. It’s also intergovernmental and made up of 15 nations. The organization was founded in 1960 and was originally designed to regulate and develop the policies for the top oil exporters. Things have certainly changed and OPEC does way more than that nowadays. OPEC’s official website doesn’t reveal any plans for the 2019 agenda. The nearest meeting will be held in two weeks from now on December 6^th in Vienna, Austria.

This brings some interesting questions about Venezuela’s recently launched sale. The country officially launched the oil-backed crypto at the end of October. This was done 11 months after Maduro’s announcement, which stated that the Petro can now be officially purchased from its own website. There were also 6 additional crypto exchanges, all local of course, which were authorized by the government.

A lot of reports are coming in, that crypto wallets, which have traded the coin are being suspended by Google. It’s no secret that President Maduro is actively appealing to his citizens to invest in the Petro and crypto. That’s not so surprising considering the bolivar is on the brink of hyperinflation.

This of course rises a huge wave of skepticism. A recent report, showed that the digital currency was not only not backed by any oil, it wasn’t even mined anywhere in the whole country. The country’s former Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez ignited speculation even further when he stated that:

“The Petro exists only in the current government’s imagination”

Even more fuel to the fire was added by a few experts who stated that PDVSA, which is technically the backbone of the digital currency, has a debt of over $40 billion and has absolutely no activity. An ever-increasing group of journalists, experts and economists are standing firmly behind the notion that the Petro is a clever charade by the government. It’s only purpose is to hide the rapidly failing bolivar and giving hope to the people. Still, Petro has a chance to succed and this remains to be seen, if enough valuable partnerships are made.

Read more:

• Everything you need to know about the Venezuelan Petro
• Petro-backed Bolivar: For better or for worse, a historical moment for Venezuela
• Petro will be linked to Venezuelan Salaries and Pensions