With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation will pay Rs 852 crore (Rs 8.52 billion) for subsidising petrol and diesel during January-March quarter but state gas utility GAIL India has been spared from the subsidy burden.
India's corporate sector is likely to report a slowdown in revenue growth and earnings for the July-September 2023 period (Q2FY24), according to earnings estimates by brokerages, after the country's top listed companies posted higher than expected profits for the first quarter. The combined net profit of Nifty50 companies, based on brokerage estimates, is expected to have grown by 19.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.75 trillion in Q2FY24 - a sharp deceleration from 37.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in the combined earnings of index companies in the April-June 2023 period. According to estimates, the combined earnings in the second quarter would be down 8.8 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis and the lowest in the past three quarters.
State-run oil companies on Wednesday raised prices of aviation turbine fuel, or ATF, for the third time in a month, this time by about 6.7 per cent, in step with international rates, which are firming up.
With Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum projected to lose Rs 200,000 crore (Rs 2,000 billion) in revenues on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below import cost, industry sources said a hike in the range of Rs 2 to 5 per litre appears on the cards.
Diesel price on Friday was hiked by 20 paise per litre - the first increase in rates in over two months - as international oil prices neared their highest since 2018. Price of diesel was hiked to Rs 88.82 per litre in Delhi and to Rs 96.41 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Petrol price was not changed. It costs Rs 101.19 a litre in Delhi and Rs 107.26 in Mumbai.
Reliance has shut all of its 1,432 petrol pumps in the country after sales dropped to almost nil as it could not match the subsidised price offered by public sector competition. Public sector currently sells petrol at a loss of Rs 13.97 a litre and diesel at a discount of Rs 20.97 per litre. This revenue loss is made up by the Government through issue of oil bonds. Private firms were not entitled for the subsidy and priced fuel from their pumps at Rs 8-10 a litre higher.
Public sector oil firms plan to set up over 4600 petrol stations and 907 LPG sale agencies in the current fiscal, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.
The Congress Party on Monday strongly opposed the government's decision to divest stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation saying that hydrocarbon is part and parcel of the strategic sector.
The government is considering allowing private firms to sell subsidised domestic cooking gas LPG, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Oman Oil Company has offered to buy a 26 per cent stake in the upcoming refinery at Bina for $250 million (Rs 1,200 crore), reversing an earlier decision not to increase its stake beyond the 2 per cent it currently owns.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum recorded profit on the sale of petrol and diesel, the first in three years, on the back of falling international oil prices, industry sources said. The three firms are moping up a neat Rs 11.99 per litre margin on petrol and Rs 4.13 a litre on diesel sale.
The government will take home Rs 4,022 crore (Rs 40.22 billion) by way of interim dividend bonanza declared by the state-owned oil companies in the last one week.
The government owned oil companies have proposed to pay interim dividend for the financial year 2006-07
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd have restarted their Mumbai-based refineries, which were partially shut following incessant rains.
Last month, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum were losing Rs 390 crore (Rs 3.9 billion) per day on sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG. This month, losses have come down to Rs 352 crore (Rs 3.52 billion) per day, an industry official said.
This is the second hike in diesel price this month.
Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have seen revenue losses on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene coming down to Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) per day from Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) per day, industry sources said. The basket of crude that India buys has averaged $114.37 a barrel this month as against the July average of $132.47 per barrel.
The India story got stronger on the global arena with the country expanding its presence on the elite list of Fortune Global 500 companies, as the PSU banking major State Bank of India has become the sixth domestic firm to feature in the league.
The under-realisation on fuel sales incurred by the oil marketing companies is projected to rise by 14 per cent to around Rs 760 crore (Rs 7.6 billion) per day in the first fortnight of July from Rs 680 crore (Rs 6.8 billion) per day in the second fortnight of June.
In 12 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 6.55 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.04 a litre.
Bond issue oversubscribed 15 times despite gloomy sovereign rating.
Reliance Industries, the country's largest LPG producer, will be spared from footing the Rs 7,200 crore (Rs 72 billion) bill for the one year freeze in LPG and kerosene prices, despite rising cost.
IOC has asked consumers to book LPG refill through IVRS or SMSes so that refills reach genuine users.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said the terms and conditions of the strategic sale of HPCL and and public offer in BPCL would be worked out by a core group of secretaries on divestment.
A decision on sale of government equity in HPCL, BPCL could be delayed beyond the Dec 7 deadline with PetroMin Naik stating he has no idea about the next CCD meet.\n\n\n\n
The Oil and Natural Gas Corp has asked the government to review the scheme of sharing of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene subsidy with upstream firms and said the scheme should not be extended beyond March 2004.
India imports 73 per cent of its crude oil import needs and the cost of imports would spiral after crude inched closer to a record $125 per barrel, while rupee touched its 13-month low, official sources said. The basket of crude oil India imports was at $120.65 per barrel on Thursday, a 91 per cent jump over the last fiscal's lowest price of 62.91 dollars recorded on May 9, 2007, official sources said.
Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Union government and public sector oil majors Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation on a public interest litigation challenging the Centre's decision to privatise.
In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.
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