true having the US dollar as the oil trading currency is one
way the US empire can 'tax' the rest of the world. one of the reasons the price of oil went up in recent years is that the US $ actually lost value.

but Im not sure what you mean with your comment about 'capitalists'- it is in the USs interests to have lower oil prices - it helps their economy and hurts Irans.

(In much the same way that if the US had been successful in its Iraq war. and by success I mean removing Saddam, stabilizing the country and installing or allowing a US friendly govt. A friendly US govt in a stable Iraq could dump more oil on the market thanks to Iraqs vast reserves of easy oil - and this would ultimately make OPEC irrelevant).

Another thing that could make opec irrelevant would be a car that get 60mpg - and it might cost far less than the $2trillion the Iraq war cost.