Experts have been falling over themselves to frame the claimed 'non renewal' of the Saudi Arabian petrodollar 'agreement' on June 9th as fake news.

According to them:

• Saudi Arabia has not been doing the bulk of its oil trade in US dollars
• Saudi Arabia has not been using significant amounts of its oil revenues to buy US treasuries
• China is not now the largest customer for Saudi oil and wants to pay in Yuan
• Saudi Arabia is not interested in becoming part of the BRICS alliance as a move away from US hegemony

Apparently The Quincy/Bitter Lake 1945 agreement and subsequent agreements (e.g. in the seventies) were not attempts to shut out the British, establish US 'control' over crucial middle Eastern oil supplies and bolster the position of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency by switching from backing by gold (the supply of which could not be controlled) to backing by oil (the supply of which could, relatively).

FNN can reveal that the Saudis have in fact rejected the dollar as their prime oil trading currency and have switched to Marmite!

Shares in Unilever, the company that owns the Marmite brand, have rocketed on the news as central banks rush to stockpile the foodstuff.

Former Australian oil tycoon Bill "Vegemite" Heslop told FNN:

Marmite. You either love it or hate it. A bit like oil really and it's even the same colour.

Hey Muriel! Fetch me a tinnie. I'm parched.