SHANGHAI – China completed its first purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the largest offshore oil and gas producer in China, purchased a shipment of LNG from TotalEnergies through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX), according to the official WeChat account of SHPGX on March 28^th.

The transaction volume was about 65,000 tons. The LNG is sourced from the United Arab Emirates. The deal, which marks the first international LNG transaction settled in Yuan currency.

Yu Jin, deputy general manager of CNOOC, said that the payment in Yuan can promote energy trade globalization and build a diversified ecosystem for LNG trading.

“In the future, CNOOC will continue to promote innovation in the international LNG trade business model,” Yu said.

The Yuan has become the world’s fifth-largest payment currency, the third-largest currency in trade settlement and the fifth-largest reserve currency.

The Yuan accounts for 7 percent of all foreign exchange trades across the world, and has seen the biggest expansion in currency market share over the past three years, recent data showed.

During the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit last year, Chinese authorities said that China will continue to import more crude oil and LNG from GCC countries, strengthen cooperation with GCC countries in oil and gas development and clean and low-carbon technologies.

China and Russia have also moved to strengthen their energy and financial cooperation with the signing of an agreement on Russia’s eastern natural gas pipeline to China, and a switch in gas payment currencies from the US dollar to the Chinese Yuan and Russian Ruble.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last September that China would pay Gazprom for its gas based on a 50-50 split between the Ruble and the Yuan, according to Sputnik News. Source: Global Times