Oil firms prepare for winter heat

Public sector oil companies are likely to take a hit on their bottomlines with the soaring global crude prices and retail prices of transpor...

Public sector oil companies are likely to take a hit on their bottomlines with the soaring global crude prices and retail prices of transportation fuels not moving in tandem with crude prices. This is despite the government permitting public sector oil marketing companies to increase the retail price of transportation fuels within a prescribed price band of 10 pc.

This move is not enough to compensate for the increase in global crude prices.

The companies are a worried lot, and do not see any substantial decline in global crude prices. This is on account of the onset of winter in high consumption countries like the US, Europe and Canada.

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At this stage, the companies are still working out the burden they would have to shoulder in a rising prices scenario, said a senior official from (HPCL).

‘‘The exact hit would depend on the crude price and the volumes of transportation fuel sold. Globally, the transportation fuel price increases have not been in tandem with the increase in global crude prices; this holds good for India too,’’ he pointed out.