When China launched its long-awaited crude contract in March, it highlighted an ambition to exert clout over the price of barrels sold into Asia but also the trillions of dollars of oil futures traded globally each year.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks — both denominated in dollars — underpinned by barrels from Europe and the US, dominate the oil trade. But the new renminbi — or yuan — contract has raised the prospect of a rival to the petrodollar.
As the world’s largest buyer of crude, China wants to control its import prices. But its ultimate goal is to shift more of the world’s oil transactions into renminbi to boost the currency’s influence on global trade.