A scarce and vital good such as oil can lock in demand for a currency. Dollar settlement pulls value back to the US government. Network effects make the system self-reinforcing. The petrodollar order proved that monetary power, far from depending on the dollar being pegged to gold, could in fact grow from control over a key resource, even in a crisis that seems to threaten that power. Marc Rich’s innovation shows that private intermediaries can be decisive in enabling states to capture value from disrupted markets, a lesson that echoes in today’s digital economy.