The government on Thursday permitted 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in oil and gas PSUs which have received in-principle approval for strategic divestment. The move would facilitate privatisation of India's second biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). The government is privatising BPCL and selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the company.
The basket of crude oil India buys from overseas markets averaged $68.07 per barrel in September as against the August average of $71.98 a barrel.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram later this week to seek greater compensation for oil companies, who are currently losing about Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a day on fuel sales. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see doubling of revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene to Rs 150,000 crore. The three fuel retailers together lost Rs 77,304.50 cr on fuel sale in 2007-08.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday launched the service, which will be initially available in the national capital and would be extended to other metropolitan cities, state capitals and towns.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) today said it is losing Rs 189 crore per day on selling auto and cooking fuel below cost as global crude oil prices shot up to USD 102 per barrel.
The basket of crude oil that India buys has hit a decade high of $121 per barrel, but retail selling prices of petrol and diesel continue to remain frozen. The Indian basket on June 9 touched $121.28, matching levels seen in February/March 2012, according to data available from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). As per the PPAC, the Indian basket of crude oil averaged $111.86 per barrel between February 25 and March 29 - the immediate period after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent oil on fire.
The government's decision to raise fuel prices in June has scuttled the oil companies' plans to reduce their losses from retail fuel sales as consumers are buying less of premium fuels, which is more expensive than normal fuels.
A Parliamentary Committee asked the government on Thursday to seek approval of Parliament before privatising oil refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd as the two were nationalised
The public sector oil refining and marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are back on the radar of investors as their profit levels reach record highs.
This is the highest any Indian company has been ranked on the Fortune Global 500 list.
State fuel retailers IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum sell diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government dictated rates which are lower than cost of production.
Besides IOC, Royal Dutch Shell is believed to have evinced interest in reviving the petrol pumps, industry sources said. Reliance, as part of a two part bid process, had sought expression of interest from IOC, Shell, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum by Friday for a possible partnership for reopening the petrol pumps.
In 13 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.11 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.67 a litre.
After a year of sluggish growth in fuel retail outlets, the three state-run oil-marketing companies--Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation--have chalked out aggressive plans for expansion in the next financial year. They will be commissioning over 2,100 outlets in 2009-10--over three times what they added in the current year--at an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore.
State-owned oil firms on Tuesday cut jet fuel, or ATF, prices by 4 per cent, the first reduction in rates since July, on softening of international oil prices.
The government on Wednesday broadly hinted about a hike in petrol and diesel prices, saying although it has kept retail prices unchanged it cannot do so for long given the rise in crude oil rates.
The three firms had planned to jointly buy or lease plantations and related units for producing ethanol, a by-product of sugarcane that is doped in petrol to reduce dependence on imported oil. The three firms have suffered a Rs 14,700-crore (Rs 147 billion) net loss in the first-half of the current fiscal and were living on borrowed money as they lost heavily on retail fuel sales domestically.
Many of the 37,000 petrol pumps across the country could go dry by Thursday if the indefinite strike by executives from public sector oil companies continues. Over 55,000 oil PSU officers from 14 oil companies -- under the umbrella of the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) -- began their indefinite strike on Wednesday demanding higher wages.
The government will provide private companies subsidy equivalent to that given to state retailing firms on LPG, petroleum secretary B K Chaturvedi said.
A parliamentary panel has rapped the government for bypassing Parliament in deciding to privatise oil refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum to open over 3,000 outlets this year. Even losses of over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) per day from selling automobile fuels have not stopped government-owned oil marketing companies from expanding their retail network across the country.
Jet fuel will cost Rs 37,300 per kl in Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, from Rs 38,246.60. The reduced rates will help cash-strapped airlines cut fuel cost, which constitutes roughly 40 per cent of their operational cost.
Reliance Communications Ltd's subsidiary Reliance Mobile World on Wednesday announced introduction of LPG gas booking service on mobile phones.
Indian Oil Corporation on Tuesday said it may lose over Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) in revenues this fiscal on selling fuel below imported cost.
Petrol price on Monday was hiked by 30 paise a litre and diesel by 35 paise, taking the total increase in rates in the last one week to Rs 4-4.10 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 99.41 per litre as against Rs 99.11 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 90.42 per litre to Rs 90.77, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are collectively losing Rs 2.65 billion (Rs 265 crore) per day on selling fuel below cost and may end the fiscal with a Rs 874.4 billion (Rs 87,440 crore) revenue loss.
The government has decided to go ahead with the privatisation of Hindustan Copper Ltd, setting aside concerns over the fate of units, which were partially nationalised.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL currently sell petrol at a loss of Rs 6.12 per litre, Rs 4.60 a litre on diesel, Rs 18.42 per litre on PDS kerosene and Rs 265.27 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.
Sri Lanka has said it will go ahead with its deal with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd in oil retailing in the island nation despite opposition from the Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, in the coalition government.
The strike by workers of state-owned oil firms Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp to oppose privatisation of the cash-rich refiners entered the second day on Wednesday but operations and petroleum product supplies remained unaffected.
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