Russian oil supply to India faces delays; India's largest refinery seeks alternatives - Reuters

This information was disclosed by Reuters, citing its own sources.

IOC, the sole state-owned oil refinery in India, has a one-year agreement with Russian oil company Rosneft for various Russian grades, including Sokol. According to sources, Sakhalin-1 LLC, a division of Rosneft, is responsible for supplying Sokol. 

In light of the government's advice against using the Chinese yuan, India's state-owned refiners conduct oil trade with Russia in UAE dirhams. However, private refiners still resort to yuan payments due to a lack of alternatives.

The payment flow for Sokol oil by IOC was disrupted because Sakhalin-1 LLC faced challenges in opening a bank account in the UAE to receive payments in dirhams, as per anonymous sources.

Last week, India's oil ministry informed a parliamentary panel about the difficulties faced by state-owned oil companies in making payments for Russian oil. This is attributed to the fact that not all Indian banks can process US dollar payments for Russian oil.

• Approximately 5 million barrels of Russian Sokol crude oil, destined for Indian refineries, are facing delays on tankers.