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Saudi Arabia Mulls Pricing of China Oil Sales in Yuan: Report

The move would be a challenge to the U.S. dollar, which has dominated as the medium of exchange for the oil trade for decades.

Updated May 11, 2023, 5:58 p.m. Published Mar 15, 2022, 2:12 p.m.

Saudi Arabia is in discussions with Beijing about pricing some Saudi oil sales to China in yuan instead of dollars, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chatter about this sort of arrangement has been ongoing for several years, but recent events have brought a new urgency to talks, according to the report, which says the Saudis are questioning longstanding U.S. security commitments to the kingdom.
Among the issues are what the Saudis believe to be less-than-enthusiastic support for the war in Yemen, the White House's attempt at an Iran nuclear deal and shock at the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the report said.
China is a buyer of more than 25% of Saudi Arabia's exported oil, according to the story.
The news would seemingly be of interest to the bitcoin (BTC) and gold markets, but, for now, there's little reaction, with the price of bitcoin staying in the mid-$38,000 area, and gold remaining lower by 2.1% for the day at $1,918 per ounce.

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Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.