Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Monday said two state refiners have placed orders for importing crude oil from Iran in November, the month when US sanctions on Iranian oil purchases take effect.


"Two of our oil companies have made nominations to purchase Iranian oil in November," he said speaking at The Energy Forum here. "We do not know if we will get waiver (from US sanctions) or not." This is the first time Pradhan has spoken about India's stand on buying Iranian oil once the US sanctions on Iran come into force from November 4.


Later, talking to reporters, he said India has its own energy requirements which it has to fulfill. "We will be guided by our national interest," he said. Indian Oil Corp Chairman Sanjiv Singh said his company is among the two which have placed order for November.


"We have ordered for our usual quantity of oil," he said. IOC and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd together have placed order for 1.25 million tonne (MT) of crude oil from Iran.