BEIJING: Chinese national oil company CNOOC and France’s TotalEnergies have completed China’s first yuan-settled LNG trade through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, the exchange said on Tuesday.

Approximately 65,000 tonnes of LNG imported from the UAE changed hands in the trade, it said in a statement. TotalEnergies confirmed to Reuters that the transaction involved LNG imported from the UAE but did not comment further.

CNOOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has placed an emphasis on settling oil and gas trades in yuan in recent years in a bid to establish its currency internationally and to weaken the dollar’s grip on world trade.

Russia has increasingly embraced the yuan amid Western sanctions.

During a visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh in December President Xi Jinping announced that China would “make full use” of the Shanghai exchange as a platform to carry out yuan settlements of oil and gas trades.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2023