New Delhi: State-owned oil retailer Petroleum Corporation (IOC) rose 50% in the March quarter on Wednesday as inventory earnings negated the loss of sales-subsidized household cooking gas LPG. According to the company, the company’s independent net profit was Rs 726.485 crore in the January-March quarter, compared with Rs 48,376.9 crore in the same period a year ago.
Commenting on Profit IOC Chairman Sahney said the company’s revenue to turn crude oil into fuel in the quarter was $7.85, compared with a barrel of refined profit margin a year ago at $8.39 per barrel. IOC’s inventory gains in the fourth quarter compared to losses in the previous year. “We have improved our performance, we have improved our efficiency, and we have started to regain market share,” he said in a media briefing after the tribute here.
The profit is also higher when the revenue of Rs 2873534 crore was Rs 2873534 crore between October and December 2024. As the company processes crude oil purchased at a lower price, the products sold when the price rises, the returns soar, thus derive inventory gains from it. These stocks were found to have lost Rs 5,601 crore on LPG sales and lower optimized profit margins.
The IOC and other state-owned fuel retailers sold cooking gas LPG at lower than the cost, but received no government compensation in the 2024-25 fiscal year (FY25). LPG is a subsidized fuel and the government should subsidize three retailers to make up for the difference between retail price and actual production costs.
However, the IOC said in the document that it lost Rs 5,601 crore in selling domestic LPG at lower cost in January (Quarter 4), and lost Rs 19,926 crore in full for the cost of FY25. In addition to raising LPG prices, the government has also increased the excise tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre to raise about Rs 3.2 crore in additional revenue. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on April 7 that the additional revenue could be used to provide LPG subsidies to BPCL and other retailers.
