India Keep Buying Iranian Crude Despite the US Sanctions Threat : Two Indian oil companies have placed orders to import Iranian crude next month, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Monday.

defying a call from President Donald Trump’s administration for countries to completely cut-off the Islamic republic.

U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s crude oil exports come into force from November 4, with Washington ratcheting up the pressure on governments and companies around the world to slash their Iranian oil imports to zero.

However, Oil Minister Pradhan said India would continue to purchase Iranian crude in November.

Speaking at the “The Energy Forum” in New Delhi on Monday, he said the world’s third-largest oil importer did not know whether it would receive a waiver from U.S. sanctions.

Pradhan also added the country was considering evolving a different payment system to buy Iran’s oil and that it could pay using Indian rupees. This would signal an attempt to bypass U.S. sanctions on Iranian transactions using the dollar — the dominant currency in global oil trade. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in India last month that the White House would only consider waivers for Iran’s oil buyers if they vowed to eventually bring their imports to zero.

Indian refiners imported around 10 million barrels of Iranian crude in October, although its November shipments are likely to be lower. Source: CNBC