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October 22, 2008 10:16 IST
A near 50 per cent decline in crude oil prices in the last three months has thrown open a window of opportunities for private fuel retailers to restart their operations.
As crude oil prices rose sharply, private companies like Essar Oil [Get Quote] and Reliance Industries [Get Quote] closed their retail outlets as they found it difficult to compete with state-owned oil companies, which were selling fuel below the production cost with support from the government.
While Essar Oil has drawn up plans to re-open its retail outlets, Reliance Industries has decided not to go ahead with the retail plan as any hike in crude oil prices would make it an uncompetitive proposition again.
Shell India, the Indian arm of the world's second largest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, did not close down its 36 outlets. Essar Oil has restarted 350 of its 1,250 fuel retail outlets and plans to re-open 750-800 by the end of this year.
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