Indian refiners pay for Iranian oil in yuan via ICICI - Reuters
Indian refiners are paying for shipments of Iranian oil in Chinese yuan through ICICI Bank, four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, under a temporary US sanctions waiver.
The payments are being routed via ICICI’s Shanghai branch to accounts denominated in yuan, the sources said.
State-run Indian Oil Corp and privately owned Reliance Industries have purchased Iranian crude under the waiver, which Washington introduced last month to help ease global oil prices.
One cargo bought by Indian Oil earlier this month totaled about 2 million barrels, worth roughly $200 million, according to sources.
The arrangement highlights efforts to work around longstanding restrictions on Iran, with Indian refiners also using yuan in some purchases of Russian oil.
The US waiver allowing such transactions is due to expire soon and is not expected to be renewed, officials have said.
