<P> The shale oil boom in the USA starting in the early 2000s through 2010s (as well as increased production capacity in many other countries) greatly limited OPEC's ability to control oil prices . Consequently, due to a drastic fall in Nymex crude oil price to as low as $35.35 dollars per barrel in 2015, many oil - exporting countries have had severe problems in balancing their budget . </P> <P> Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil--and no buyers . Oil will be left in the ground . The Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil . </P> <P> By 2016, many oil exporting countries had been adversely affected by low oil prices including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Venezuela and Nigeria . </P> <P> The petro, or petromoneda, launched in February 2018, is a cryptocurrency developed by the government of Venezuela . Announced in December 2017, it is claimed to be backed by the country's oil and mineral reserves, and it is intended to supplement Venezuela's plummeting bolívar fuerte currency, purportedly as a means of circumventing U.S. sanctions and accessing international financing . </P>

What currencies are tied to the us dollar