Oil Analysts Baffled As Venezuela Ditches Petrodollar

At the end of August, the U.S. stepped up sanctions on Venezuela, prohibiting dealings in new debt or equity issued by state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) or the government. A couple of weeks later Venezuela responded to what it called an “economic blockade” by suspending trade in U.S. dollars and publishing Venezuelan oil basket prices in Chinese yuan.  Analysts believe that although it has close strategic ties to China, Venezuela would mostly just harm itself with the move to “free the nation from the oppression of the dollar,” as Nicolas Maduro put it.  More…