Saudi and Chinese officials are in talks to price some of the Gulf nation’s oil sales in yuan rather than dollars or euros, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The two nations have intermittently discussed the matter for six years, but talks have reportedly stepped up in 2022, with Riyadh disgruntled over the United States’ nuclear negotiations with Iran and its lack of backing for Saudi Arabia’s military operation in neighboring Yemen.
Nearly 80 percent of global oil sales are priced in dollars, and since the mid-1970s the Saudis have exclusively used the dollar for oil trading as part of a security agreement with the U.S. government, according to the Journal.
The talks are the latest in an ongoing effort by Beijing both to make its currency tradeable in international oil markets and strengthen its relationship with the Saudis specifically. China previously aided Riyadh in construction of ballistic missiles and consultation on nuclear power.
Conversely, the Saudi-U.S. relationship has been increasingly frayed in recent years. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman initially put […]
Today, I read about China edging away from Russia in the Ukraine. Separately, the history of the Saudis and the Chinese is long and incredibly complex. Math and the concept of zero came out of the Middle East. The citizens of SA receive an annual stipend form oil, which is a big deal.
I suspect the Chinese could turn away, once oil and coal crash.. Who know exactly when or how, but it’s inevitable. And to speed that up, we need to continue to focus on alternative energy. We’ve coming closer to that goal. So many huge changes in the pipeline..
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