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Glite Dictionary
petrodollar

petrodollar

3 5.9
Money in US dollars a country gets by selling oil abroad
  • noun
  • /ˈpɛtroʊˌdɑːlər/
: petrodólar
  • But the real benefit to the USA was the preservation of the petrodollar standard for oil purchases.
  • petrodollar lobby

Just just happened in June when Saudi Arabia did not renew its fifty year petrodollar deal with America.

Examples

  • Many countries rely on petrodollars to support their economies after selling oil to others.

  • To the extent that the allocation of petrodollars undermined other bases of authority, the ratcheting up of oil prices brought immediate instability.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Both hope to control the flow of petrodollars to terrorists.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The answer, of course, is that Iran is now seeking to disengage itself from the petrodollar dynamic.

    Blog text (21)

  • The OPEC nations benefit from the petrodollar system because the US protects their regimes.

    Blog text (21)

  • In turn, the banks have generated enormous profits by lending out the "petrodollars."

    Academic text (1992)

  • Gaddafi made a fatal error when he decided to move away from the petrodollar in favor of other currencies.

    Blog text (21)

  • A flood of petrodollars enabled some oil-producing states to maintain authoritarian forms of government.

    Academic text (1995)

  • At the same time, it blocks self-correcting mechanisms, thereby fostering continued dependence on petrodollars.

    Academic text (1999)

  • By 2004, oil prices had spiked again, filling government coffers with petrodollars, which Chávez spent without constraints, controls, or accountability.

    Academic text (2018)

Surface Forms

petrodollar singular
petrodollars plural

Morphology

petrodollar = dollar (transparent) = petro + dollar

Formed from 'petro-' (petroleum/oil) + 'dollar', the meaning 'dollars from oil sales' can be directly inferred by learners who know 'petroleum' or the combining form 'petro-' and 'dollar'.

Etymology

Petrodollar joins the part petro- ('rock', the root you see in petrol for oil) and dollar (US money). It means US dollars made from selling oil, so think 'oil dollars'.