RBI team to visit Germany on Iran crude oil payments

A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) team will visit Germany this week to explore a new conduit for payments towards Iranian crude oil imports, Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan said today.

“The RBI team will be meeting Deutsche Bundesbank officials to find an alternative mode of payment,” he said. There has been no disruption in supplies from Iran since December 23 when RBI clamped down on Asian Clearing Union (ACU), the main conduit Indian companies used to pay for the consignments.

“Iran has agreed to sell crude oil on credit this month, pending resolution of the deadlock,” he said. Iran is selling crude oil to Indian refiners on open credit after the Reserve Bank of India closed the ACU route, a move that effectively bars settlement in US dollars and the euro.

“There is no stoppage of oil supplies. They (Iran) will continue to sell crude based on guarantee from companies to make payments in future,” Sundareshan said. “We are hopeful that a specific routing of funds (for oil imports from Iran) will be finalised in the next few days.”