Key Points

The three companies together earned a profit of Rs 16,184 crore in the first quarter of FY26, more than two-and-a-half times higher than the same period previous year, as per their regulatory filings.

Among the three, BPCL topped the list with a profit of Rs 6,124 crore, overtaking IOC which reported Rs 5,689 crore, even though IOC is nearly twice its size. HPCL posted a net profit of Rs 4,371 crore during the quarter.

BPCL’s performance was also supported by better refining margins. It earned $4.88 for every barrel of crude oil refined into fuels like petrol and diesel.

In comparison, IOC earned $2.15 per barrel and HPCL $3.08. BPCL’s refineries also operated at a higher efficiency, running at 118 per cent of their installed capacity, against 107 per cent for IOC and 109 per cent for HPCL.

Its fuel sales per pump also outpaced rivals, averaging 153 kilolitres per month, compared to IOC’s 130 kl.

The sharp jump in profits was driven by strong marketing margins. According to ICICI Securities, the companies earned around Rs 10.3 per litre on petrol sales, compared to Rs 4.4 per litre a year ago, and Rs 8.2 per litre on diesel, against Rs 2.5 earlier.

These gains came even though retail fuel prices were kept unchanged, despite a 21 per cent fall in crude oil costs and a 16-18 per cent drop in international fuel benchmarks.

The higher marketing margins helped offset inventory losses caused by falling crude oil prices. IOC reported an inventory loss of Rs 6,465 crore in the June quarter, against a gain of Rs 3,345 crore previous year.

Adjusted for these losses, IOC’s gross refining margin would have been USD 6.91 per barrel, compared to USD 2.84 previous year. HPCL too suffered an inventory loss of about Rs 2,000 crore.

- IANS