I still don't really get the benefit to this. The price per barrel they pay is going to be calculated in dollars, now it'll just be gold worth that amount of dollars. If they were sanctioned I would understand but schemes like this almost always result in a bunch of corrupt intermediaries making a lot of money. Recall the Oil for Food scandal, St. Petersburg in the 90s, etc.
And to get the gold they will sell their own currency, just like they did for dollars. And the people they buy oil from will turn the gold into dollars to buy US weapons and financial services (and treasury bills).<p>The ultimate effect will be the same except a lot more gold will have to be shipped around and some middle-men will get rich.
Who is selling oil in gold? I'm curious how Ghana plans to pull this off; such a move would typically result in being cut off from world bank + WTO, if not invasion.