Meaning & use
petrodollar
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Meanings
nouncountablefinance
Money, in US dollars, earned by countries from selling oil, especially when it is then spent or invested abroad.
Grammar: Often used in the plural: petrodollars flowed into banks.
Patterns
- petrodollars from something
- invest petrodollars
Gulf states invested petrodollars in overseas property.
Rising oil prices sent petrodollars pouring into global banks.
The fund recycles petrodollars into long-term assets.
nounsingularfinance
The system in which oil is traded mainly in US dollars, shaping the dollar's role in global trade.
Grammar: In this sense it is singular and often with the: the petrodollar system.
Patterns
- the petrodollar system
- end of the petrodollar
Analysts debate whether the petrodollar will weaken as countries trade in other currencies.
The petrodollar arrangement dates back to the 1970s.
Some economists argue the petrodollar supports American borrowing.
Word forms
| plural | petrodollars |
|---|
Common combinations
- recycle petrodollars
- Banks helped recycle petrodollars into loans.
- petrodollar system
- The petrodollar system links oil sales to the dollar.
- petrodollar wealth
- Petrodollar wealth funded the new airport.
- petrodollar surplus
- A petrodollar surplus built up as prices climbed.
- invest petrodollars
- They invested petrodollars in technology firms.
Synonyms and how they differ
- oil revenue
- Oil revenue is any income from oil in any currency, while petrodollars specifically means dollars.
- oil money
- Oil money is more informal and not tied to dollars.
- export earnings
- Export earnings covers any goods, whereas petrodollars refers only to oil income.
Word family
- petroleum noun
- crude oil
- petrochemical noun
- a chemical made from oil or gas
- petrostate noun
- a country whose economy depends on oil
- dollar noun
- the US currency
Commonly confused: petrodollar or eurodollar?
petrodollar vs eurodollar
Eurodollars are US dollars deposited in banks outside the US, unrelated to oil sales as such.
Practice
Which term describes dollars earned by oil-exporting countries and then invested abroad?
Choose one answer.
Petrodollars are oil-sale earnings in dollars. Eurodollars are dollars held outside the US, which is a different idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “petrodollar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.