Two Indian companies to buy Iranian oil in November, says Pradhan

Indian Oil recently made some payments for Iran oil in rupees, says chairman

Two Indian companies have placed orders to buy Iranian oil in November, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday, adding that India did not yet know if it would be granted a waiver from US sanctions on Iran.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer, will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two industry sources.

India was discussing its options to buy Iranian oil with all authorities, Pradhan said. US sanctions on Iranian oil purchases are due to take effect on Nov 4.

Acknowledging that higher retail fuel prices posed a challenge, Pradhan also said that he had spoken to his Saudi Arabian counterpart two days earlier and discussed high oil prices. He said he had reminded the Saudi Arabian oil minister about raising oil output according to the June deal.

Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation Chairman Sanjiv Singh on Monday said his company recently made some payments for Iran oil in rupees.

He said the fuel prices continued to be deregulated and state-run fuel retailers’ revenues were impacted by Rs 40-50 billion due to the absorption of Re 1 a litre. 

Singh said he hoped to soon evolve a payments system for Iran oil and one option could be paying in rupees.