The government on Wednesday said there was no proposal to either merge Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum with Oil and Natural Gas Corp or Oil India Ltd with Indian Oil Corporation.
Oil marketing companies IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum together blocked nearly 2.9 million LPG connections belonging to customers having more than one connection across states.
"You will have to wait for that," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters. International crude oil prices are ruling at $74 per barrel on Tuesday.
The drop in international oil prices has resulted in revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum dip to Rs 400 crore per day from Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a fortnight back. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $111.09 a barrel in the second fortnight of August as compared with $117.37 per barrel in the first fortnight of the month.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have raised their stakes in public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the three months ended September 30 - the first quarter after the government decontrolled petrol prices and announced plans to decontrol diesel rates as well.
Even as automobile manufacturers are considering increasing the prices of their products, an increase in auto fuel prices is also imminent.
Profits of the country's oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation - fell by as much as 29 per cent in 2007-08 in spite of an up to 56 per cent rise in the oil bonds these companies received during the year compared with 2006-07.
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 Finance Ministry will give Rs 12,000 crore in cash to Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum to cover for less than half of the losses they incurred on selling LPG and kerosene this fiscal.
State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are likely to lose Rs 45,478 crore (Rs 454.78 billion) this fiscal on selling fuel below cost, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
BPCL plans to save Rs 500-800 cr, while HPCL eyes 10% reduction in total costs.
Next phase of rise will unlikely be a combined exercise from the three oil marketing companies.
With the government preparing to restrict the number of subsidised cooking cylinders, oil marketing companies have launched a 'transparency' portal that allows customers to keep an eye on the number of cylinders sold in their account by the dealer.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd Employees Union on Friday extended support to the proposed indefinite strike of employees of public sector oil companies against privatisation of HPCL and BPCL.
The government has directed state-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to clear the wait list for domestic LPG connection within the next two months.
This is to compensate for their under-recoveries on the sale of petroleum products during the current financial year. Indian Oil Corporation has been issued oil bonds worth Rs 5,817.27 crore, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation has been issued bonds worth Rs 2,144.32 crore. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has got bonds worth Rs 2,038.41 crore. Prior to this, bonds worth Rs 60,967 crore had already been issued.
According to data compiled by BS Research Bureau for BSE 100 companies, seven public sector companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bank of India, Union Bank, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and GAIL -- have reduced their employee costs ranging from one per cent to 21 per cent.
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
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.
Over 100 chemical storage tanks built at the Pirpav jetty near Chembur have been operating without approvals from the ministry of environment and forests for over 18 years. Each of these tanks has an average capacity of 200,000 kilolitres of oil.
The Union oil ministry is considering a proposal to adopt differential pricing for diesel, under which industrial users like power utilities, will be charged market prices and retail consumers continue to be subsidised.
Higher crude oil prices have almost doubled the under-recoveries of government-owned oil marketing companies -- Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- in the past three years.
In an apparent bid to resolve the row over divestment in public sector units including the one involving HPCL and BPCL, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held an informal meeting of senior Cabinet ministers.\n\n
To help them make up for the revenue lost on selling auto and cooking fuel below cost.
Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines owes state-run oil companies over Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.50 billion0 in unpaid fuel bills while financial crisis-hit NACIL has cleared almost two-thirds of its outstanding.
While Indian Oil Corporation will get the highest Rs 5,817.27 crore (Rs 58.17 billion) of special bonds, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd will receive Rs 2,144.32-crore (Rs 21.44 billion) bonds and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd will be issued bonds worth Rs 2,038.41 crore (Rs 20.38 billion). The bonds will carry an 8 per cent coupon rate and will mature in 2026, the government said in a statement.