Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on January 3 that there are no talks of fuel price cuts as energy availability is government's priority amid high crude volatility.
Brent crude prices are trading around $75 per barrel, a steep drop in oil prices due to demand concerns.
"We are in a very turbulent situation right now with high volatility in crude prices. There has been no discussion with the oil marketing companies (OMCs) on price cuts," said Puri.
The statement by the oil minister comes amid several media reports stating that the government plans to announce cuts on prices of diesel and petrol in the country.
Indian fuel retailers have left retail prices of fuel unchanged since April 2022, despite a correction in crude oil prices. Typically, OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) — revise retail prices of petrol and diesel daily based on the rolling average of international benchmark prices over the past 15 days.
OMCs were hit by the price freeze in 2022-23 as their margins shrank and the refiners reported losses. These companies have started booking profits in recent quarters but have left prices unchanged again, despite crude oil prices softening to make up for the losses made earlier.
Puri added that even though OMCs had posted profits in the recent quarters but the refiners had incurred huge losses when prices had skyrockted.
The country’s biggest refiner, IOC, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 12,967 crore in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of Rs 272 crore in the same period last year. BPCL and HPCL registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,501 crore and Rs 5,827 crore, respectively, in the quarter ended September 30.
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