In the new Cold War building between authoritarian states and democracies, petroleum appears to be the most potent weapon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week celebrated their recent output cuts, which have pushed up crude by 23% since the end of June. Costlier oil means more money for Moscow’s war machine and Riyadh’s construction boom, but higher gas prices for US consumers. Spying an opportunity to raise the salience of the yuan, China has meanwhile shifted almost all of its Russian crude imports into its own currency and pressed Riyadh to do the same.

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China May Get Caught in an Oil-Price Crossfire