3 PSU oil companies post highest-ever H1 loss of Rs 21,201 crore on fuel price freeze

NEW DELHI: India’s top three state-run oil refiner-retailers have ran up a combined loss of Rs 21,201.18 crore in the first half of the current financial year due to an informal government-mandated freeze on retail prices of petrol and diesel.

This is the highest-ever loss posted by IndianOil,

and Bharat Petroleum for any six-month period, including the time when the Centre set fuel prices and paid subsidy to these retailers.

For the quarter ending September, the companies posted a combined loss of Rs 2,748 crore, marking the second consecutive quarterly loss in spite of continuing robust refining margins.

The loss would have been much higher but for a one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore from the Centre to compensate the losses accruing from keeping domestic LPG prices in check for households in spite of a surge in benchmark rates.

The companies had posted a combined loss of Rs 18,480 crore in the first quarter ending in June.

For the April-September period, IndianOil’s loss stodd at Rs 2,264 crore against Rs 12,301 crore profit in the year-ago period. Bharat Petroleum’s loss stood at Rs 6,567 crore against Rs 6,033 crore profit in the previous corresponding period.

’s loss is at Rs 12,369 crore against Rs 6,282 crore profit in the year-ago period.
kicked off the negative second-quarter run on October 29 with a loss of Rs 272 crore for the July-September quarter. HPCL followed on November 3 with a loss of Rs 2,172 crore and on Monday with a loss of Rs 304 crore.