Reuters, October 8 - Trade sources said Russian oil traders have begun to request Indian state refiners to use the Chinese yuan for settlements. Sources revealed that India's largest refiner, the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation, recently paid for two to three batches of Russian oil in yuan. In 2023, Indian state-owned refining companies had used the yuan to settle part of their Russian oil imports, but this was abandoned due to the Indian government's opposition. Since then, although Indian private enterprises continued to use the yuan for settlements, Indian state-owned refiners purchased Russian oil using US dollars or UAE dirhams. Because these currencies cannot be directly exchanged for rubles, Russian traders had to convert them into yuan. Russian traders have long hoped that Indian state-owned refiners would directly use the yuan for settlements, reducing the losses caused by multiple exchanges. Recently, with signs of improvement in Sino-Indian relations, Russian traders have started to pressure Indian state-owned refiners to directly use the yuan for settlements. Russian traders price Russian oil in US dollars to ensure compliance with the EU price cap regulations, while requiring payments in equivalent yuan. In addition, some traders only accept settlements in yuan, and using the yuan for settlements will widen the procurement channels for Russian oil for Indian state-owned refiners.
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