Meanings
plural petrostates
- A state whose wealth stems from the sale of oil.
The petrostate relies on oil as its fiscal foundation, rather than on the taxes paid by the citizens[…]
2006, Donald S Rothchild, Edmond Joseph Keller, Africa-US Relations: Strategic Encounters4 more examples
Under subsequent democratic regimes, as we shall see, some of these features of the petrostate were to change, while others were intensified.
1997, Fernando Coronil, The magical state: nature, money, and modernity in VenezuelaA couple of years ago, while most Canadians were out shovelling the sidewalk or sipping a coffee at Tim Hortons, the nation quietly became a petrostate.
2009, Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a ContinentMost delegates arriving at Cop28 will have entered the desert city of Dubai along a 12-lane highway, reeking of petrol fumes: welcome to the petrostate of the United Arab Emirates.
2023 December 1, Damian Carrington, Nina Lakhani, Oliver Milman, “Cop28 diary: expensive coffee, cheesy slogans and petrol fumes”, in The Guardian, →ISSNCOPs have been held in petrostates before. But fossil fuel interests appeared truly unleashed in Baku — potentially emboldened by the imminent arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, a man who has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement.
2024 November 25, Laura Paddison, “The UN climate summit ended in bitterness and accusations of betrayal. Now fears are growing for its future”, in CNN
Origin
Translations
Dutch oliestaat
- oliestaatoil state
Italian petrostato
- petrostatooil state
Portuguese petroestado
- petroestadooil state
Russian нефтегосуда́рство, петрогосуда́рство
- нефтегосуда́рство (neftegosudárstvo)oil state
- петрогосуда́рство (petrogosudárstvo)oil state
Spanish petroestado
- petroestadooil state
Cite this entry
petrostate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrostate
“petrostate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrostate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petrostate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrostate.
Source: petrostate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.