Pakistan, June 7 -- Established in the 1970s, the petrodollar system tied global oil sales to the US dollar, granting oil-exporting nations both economic leverage and strategic weight. For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), this system became the backbone of its economic might, fueling decades of rapid modernization, infrastructure megaprojects, and sovereign investments across the world. Yet today, KSA is repositioning itself-not as a mere oil powerhouse, but as a diversified, technology-driven leader defining its future on new terms.

The cornerstone of this shift came in 2024 when Saudi Arabia formally exited the long-standing petrodollar agreement first signed with the United States in 1974. That pact had guaranteed that Saudi oil wou...