The Hindu Business Line : IOC losing Rs 80 cr daily on under-recoveries

Kolkata May 2 In a near replication of last year's trends, surge in product prices has pushed up under-recoveries of the State-run oil marketing companies in April.

Leading the pack is the country's largest refiner, IOC, which is currently incurring a daily loss of Rs 80 crore.

The company was losing Rs 65 crore a day as on April 1, 2007.

The appreciating rupee, which has gained by over eight per cent in last two months, has neutralised part of the impact.

Also, there are signs of a late slowdown in the rate of rise in price of petroleum products in the international market.

According to a senior IOC official, the company is currently losing Rs 5.25 a litre on sale of petrol, up by a clear Rs 1.20 from April 1 this year.

Losses in diesel have gone up from Rs 3.20 to Rs 4.40 a litre.

The company is incurring a loss of Rs 14.70 (Rs 13.50) on every litre of kerosene sales.

LPG retailing is causing a loss of Rs 167 a cylinder.

Sources said that the prices of petrol and diesel have moved by roughly $10 a barrel each in the last one month in the Singapore market and currently rule at $88.75 and $81.55.

Dubai crude has already crossed $65.

Product prices generally move up during this period as Asian refineries go for scheduled maintenance shutdown.

The spurt in product prices, however, helped the company to post refining margin of $7 per barrel in April.

This will cushion part of the losses from retailing.

IOC was losing at the rate of Rs 100 crore a day during April-May 2006 due to volatility in crude and product prices.

More Stories on : Performance | Petroleum

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page