Oil PSUs' retail losses up 7.3%

State-run firms together lost Rs 440 cr per day in the fortnight ended March 31.

The retail losses that the country's oil marketing companies incur on sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene at subsidised prices have risen by 7.3 per cent to around Rs 440 crore per day in the fortnight ended March 31.

The three oil marketing companies "" Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) "" were together losing around Rs 410 crore per day in the fortnight ended March 15.

Retail losses on sale of diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene have gone up by 4-20 per cent. The sharpest loss was on kerosene sales. IOC, India's largest oil marketing company, lost Rs 25.25 per litre on sale of kerosene, compared with Rs 20.95 per litre in the first fortnight of March.

IOC lost Rs 17 for every litre of petrol it sold, up from Rs 14.65 a litre on March 15. It lost Rs 316 per 14.2-kg cylinder, compared with Rs 303.65 per cylinder in the previous fortnight.

The losses from petrol and diesel are worked out every fortnight while that from LPG and kerosene are calculated on the first day of every month.

"International prices of petroleum products continue to rise, with petrol and diesel now trading at over $100 per barrel. The cap on retail prices have resulted in a corresponding rise in under-recoveries," said a senior IOC official.

Prices of crude oil futures in the New York Merchantile Exchange hit an all-time high of over $111 per barrel in early March. The current price is over $102 per barrel.

Oil companies buy petroleum products from their own refineries on a trade-parity basis, which to a large extent reflects global prices. The oil marketing companies are, however, forced by the government to sell petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene at subsidised prices.