OPEC seen unlikely to decouple from the dollar

By Jane Merriman - Analysis

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC countries are unlikely to ditch the ailing dollar for pricing oil exports in the short-term, analysts said on Monday, despite proposals from Iran and Venezuela to consider alternatives.

Iran and Venezuela's demands are seen as political and not likely to get much support.

"It's posturing," said Mike Wittner, oil analyst at Societe Generale. "I don't think it's a serious proposal and will not be taken seriously by the rest of OPEC."

The slump in the U.S. currency to record lows on global markets this month has hit export revenues of oil exporters because oil is priced in dollars.

This prompted calls from Iran and Venezuela at the OPEC heads of state summit in Riyadh at the weekend that the oil exporting group drop the dollar and price oil against a basket of currencies instead.

"I don't think OPEC are going to be in a hurry to change the way they price oil," said Mike Turner, head of global strategy and asset allocation at Aberdeen Asset Management.

"I think it is a politically opportune move by the more ideologically opposed governments (to the U.S.) than a move to maximize net worth," he said.

Oil is traded in U.S. dollars on the international physical and futures markets and this is not expected to change.