Oil price slump to help cut rev loss on fuel sales: Govt

The slump in global oil prices to over five-and-a-half-year lows will help cut revenue loss on fuel sales by about 10 percent to Rs 77,000 crore in the current fiscal, Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra said Friday.

Revenue loss, known as under-recoveries or the difference between imported cost and retail selling price, will go down further to about Rs 40,000 crore if the global oil prices stabilise at current levels of USD 50 per barrel. "The under recoveries as per the latest calculation will be about Rs 77,000 crore as compared to Rs 85,000 crore previously estimated," he told reporters here.

Chandra said the under recoveries may come down further if the international crude oil prices fall. He said the crude oil prices during the quarter are going to be "range-bound, may be between USD 50-60, they may stabilise around USD 50 and continue."

The under recoveries of the downstream oil companies for the financial year 2013-14 were Rs 1,40,000 crore which came down to Rs 86,000 crore around July, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the NDA government's maiden budget.