Petrol and diesel price hikes are likely to resume after state elections get over next week to bridge the Rs 9 a litre gap created by international oil prices soaring past $100 a barrel. International crude oil prices shot above $110 a barrel for the first time since mid-2014 on fears that oil and gas supplies from energy giant Russia could be disrupted, either by the conflict in Ukraine or retaliatory western sanctions. The basket of crude oil India buys rose above $102 per barrel on March 1, the highest since August 2014, according to information from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.
Estimated to cost $44 billion, the project was expected to be commissioned by 2025.
After steep correction in valuations, these have turned attractive but upside will depend on diesel price rises and export-parity pricing.
Stocks of public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been on fire in the past year as investors cheered an improvement in key operating metrics and embraced counters of these state-owned enterprises, analysts suggest. The S&P BSE PSU Index has gained over 90 per cent in the past year, rising much higher than the S&P BSE Sensex, which has rose nearly 19 per cent during this period, according to ACE Equity data. The BSE PSU Index, reports show, has delivered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28 per cent (including dividends reinvestments) over five years and risen by almost 60 per cent in the past year.
The ministry of petroleum and natural gas is evaluating a threshold at which the subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or cooking gas) will be reinstated. According to a senior government official in the know, a survey is currently being conducted to determine the price at which maximum consumers will keep buying domestic cylinders. One of the options also being considered is to limit any subsidy disbursal only to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries.
Oil imports are a third of India's total import bill.
If cleared, the ONGC arm will become the first subsidiary company of an existing Maharatna to get into this superior league among government-owned entities.
No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price hike on passenger fares.
The movement of prices in international oil market and rupee-dollar exchange rate shall continue to be closely monitored
This comes even after the Indian ambassador there had said this would affect the interests of other Indian companies.
Jet fuel (ATF) rates were on slashed by a steep 12.5 per cent, the sixth straight reduction in prices since August, as international oil prices slumped to five-year low levels.
The tankers carrying fuel from terminals to dealer outlets would not just have global positioning system (GPS) tracking but also an electronic key (e-key).
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and two other public sector oil firms will install 22,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations over the next 3-5 years to support the nation's target to reduce its carbon intensity and reach net zero emissions by 2070. IOC, the country's largest state-controlled refiner by capacity, will set up EV charging facilities at 10,000 fuel outlets over the next three years, chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said it will set up 7,000 stations over the next five years while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has plans for 5,000 stations.
Petrol and diesel are among the 90-plus commodities that have been approved by the government for derivatives trading
Since May 1, the dynamic fuel pricing model has been applied on a pilot basis in 5 cities
Fernandes wanted Coca-Cola Company to not just transfer 60 per cent of the shares of its Indian firm but also the formula for its concentrate to Indian shareholders.
Aviation turbine fuel or jet fuel price was on Wednesday hiked by a steep 9.2 per cent, while that of non-subsidised cooking gas was raised by Rs 21 per cylinder.
The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, sources said. Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers. Worst hit are private retailers like Nayara Energy, Jio-bp and Shell, who have so far refused to curtail any volume despite a surge in sales.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Wednesday, taking the total increase in rates in 16 days to Rs 10 per litre.
Petrol price on Saturday breached the Rs 83 per litre-mark in Delhi for the first time in more than two years after a rally in international oil prices forced a 13th increase in rates in the last fortnight. Petrol price on Saturday was raised by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise, according to a price notification of oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi rose to Rs 83.13 per litre from Rs 82.86. Diesel rates went up from Rs 73.07 to Rs 73.32 per litre.
On Tuesday, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Russian oil giant Rosneft's chief executive officer Igor Sechin and discussed raising crude imports from that country, in addition to talks about going for more acquisitions.
ATF price in Delhi was reduced by Rs 4,765.5 per kilolitre (kl), or 11.9 per cent.
India's fuel consumption slumped by over 66 per cent in the first week of April as a nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel, which eviscerated demand. Petrol and diesel demand is down 66 per cent in April, while aviation turbine fuel (ATF) consumption has collapsed by 90 per cent as most airlines have stopped flying, industry officials said.
Govt looks to take cooking gas to tiger reserves, Naxal-hit areas
Under-recovery or revenue loss on diesel has risen to Rs 10.48 per litre from Rs 9.99 a litre in the first fortnight of December, an official statement said in New Delhi.
For first time in 8 yrs, stake sale proceeds could exceed Budget Estimates. ONGC's acquisition of HPCL alone could get the exchequer more than Rs 30,000 crore.
This will encompass the sale of Air India, a number of other privatisation initiatives, mergers, initial public offerings, the Centre's two exchange-traded funds, buybacks and offers-for-sale, and even monetisation of land assets.
ATF or jet fuel price has been cut marginally while rate of non-subsidised cooking gas LPG has been hiked by Rs 27.50 a cylinder.
Chanda Kochhar has been ranked as the most powerful woman in the Asia Pacific region by fortune magazine.
CNG price in the national capital and adjoining cities on Tuesday was hiked by Rs 0.50 per kg, while an imminent increase in petrol and diesel price has been put on wait-and-watch mode for more clarity on global oil prices. CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 57.51 per kg from Rs 56.51, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital. Following the firming up of international gas rates, IGL has been raising CNG rates by up to 50 paise (Rs 0.50) per kg periodically. Prices have gone up by about Rs 4 per kg this year alone.
Oil prices jumped nearly $3 a barrel and gold and safe-haven bonds rallied on Friday after the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike by the US in Baghdad.
Petrol price had been cut 10 times since August 2014.
'Reliance on crude oil is still very high. Globally, natural gas is 25 per cent of the energy basket. In India, it has fallen to 6.5 per cent, from 11 per cent in 2014.'
The government allocated Rs 650 billion for petroleum subsidies in FY14, of which Rs 450 billion was used to pay oil marketing companies for the subsidy gap incurred in the previous financial year.
Not surprisingly, equity investors are bidding-up stock prices across sectors and the broader market is now more valuable than pre-Covid levels.
The share of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the total market capitalisation of listed companies--at an all-time low of 10 per cent currently --- may get a leg-up from the government's divestment push. Recently the government announced the successful sale of national carrier Air India to Tata Sons, India's first privatisation of a PSU since 2002-03. The transaction is expected to be completed by December.
In 16 days, petrol price has been hiked by Rs 8.3 per litre and diesel by Rs 9.46 - a record increase in rates of the fuel in any fortnight since pricing was deregulated in April 2002.
According to data shared with the Lok Sabha, 19 road projects awarded after May 2014 were facing delays
Upstream firms have a tremendous financial pressure due to selling crude at subsidised rates to oil marketing firms.
If international crude oil prices zoom past the current level of about $90 per barrel and move towards $100 and beyond, middle-class consumers are not going to keep quiet about their discomfort, points out Arun Balakrishnan, former chairman and managing director, Hindustan Petroleum.
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