Hi Andy,
You said "The Yuan oil futures redeemable in gold is interesting..."
IMO it's more than just a carrot, it's got a stick as well.
The Saudi's have a budgetary problem which they hope to solve by selling a stake in Saudi Aramco. Russia has just replaced Saudi as China's largest oil supplier. Right now it's a buyers market and likely to remain so for some years. China chooses to spread its oil purchasing around but they can get more from Russia, Angola and others in the wink of an eye.
All this adds up to massive pressure for the Saudis to accept Yuan, and the gold convertability is the carrot.
They can't look to the US for much help due to ramped up US domestic production. Sooner or later the Saudis are going to Have to follow their self interests despite US pressure to resist Chinese terms of trade.
I believe The East will win out on this one.
23.
