India Refiners Start Yuan Payments for Russian Oil

Indian refiners have begun paying for some oil imports from Russia in Chinese yuan, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as Western sanctions force Moscow and its customers to find alternatives to the dollar for settling payments.
Western punishments over Russia's invasion of Ukraine have shifted global trade flows for its top export, with India emerging as the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil even as it casts about for how to pay for it amid shifting sanctions, Timesofindia.indiatimes.com reported.
The US dollar has long been the main global oil currency, including for purchases by India, but now the yuan is playing an increasingly important role in Russia's financial system because Moscow has been frozen out of the dollar and euro financial networks by international sanctions.
China has also shifted to the yuan for most of its energy imports from Russia, which overtook Saudi Arabia to become China's top crude supplier in the first quarter this year.
"Some refiners are paying in other currencies like yuan if banks are not willing to settle trade in dollars," said an Indian government source.
Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, in June became the first state refiner to pay for some Russian purchases in yuan, three sources familiar with the matter said.