Two traders who are familiar with the matter confirmed on Tuesday that Yanchang Petroleum, a refiner backed by the Chinese provincial government and delivering crude oil between December to mid-February is not using Russian oil.

Yanchang in Shaanxi province, a landlocked province in northern China, is a regular Russian oil buyer. It receives one shipment per month of ESPO blend for export to the Far East or Sokol.

Yanchang didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

Due to the recent Western sanctions against Russian oil exports, including U.S. sanctions last month on Moscow's two largest oil exporters, some Indian refiners and China's oil companies have avoided buying Russian oil for fear of secondary sanctions.

China and India are Russia’s two largest oil export markets.

Yanchang is one of China's largest refiners, with a daily capacity of 348,000 barrels. It has an import quota for 3.6 million tons, or 26 million barrels, per year.

The oil is usually shipped by rail from Tianjin, near Beijing. Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Florence Tan and Siyi Liu. Additional reporting by Siyi Lin; Editing and Tony Munkar by Himani Sakar and Tony Munkar.

(source: Reuters)