The European Union's top energy official says she can see the euro replacing the dollar as the main currency for pricing oil.
"In the future the euro is [going to be] taking a place in the international markets in general as the money of exchange," European Energy Commissioner Ms Loyola de Palacio said.
She was reacting to comments made earlier today by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who said it was time to review the dollar's energy pricing role.
He said oil producers who bought a lot of European imports would be hard hit by recent dollar weakness against the euro.
Asked if a switch to pricing oil in euros was possible, Ms De Palacio said: "Of course - in the oil market and in any market.
"It's a stable and a strong currency - the role of the euro is going to be increased step by step - it's normal," she said after a meeting with US Energy Secretary Mr Spencer Abraham in Brussels.
She declined to give a time frame within which energy pricing in euros might begin but said European Commission President Romano Prodi had raised the issue several times.