OMCs rally on petrol price hike, but end day in red

NEW DELHI: State run oil marketing companies such as IOC, HPCL and BPCL surged in intraday trade on Tuesday, but ended the day in the red. This, after they raised the price of petrol by about Rs 2 a litre, the biggest increase in nine months in Delhi. The price of diesel was also raised about 56 paise.

Reacting on the news, IOC rose 2.8 per cent, followed by HPCL which surged 2.6 per cent and BPCL rallied 1.7 per cent intraday.

The rise in fuel prices came on the back of rise in international gasoline rates which have surged and the rupee has also depreciated following unrest in Iraq.

Companies also increased the price of diesel as their revenue losses on the fuel have increased to about Rs 3.90 per litre from Rs 1.62 in the previous fortnight, government and industry officials said.

All-India price increase is Rs 1.69 per litre on petrol and 50 paise on diesel, but the impact of the hikes would differ in different cities because of local levies, ET reported quoting an executive in Indian Oil said.

"Due to geo-political unrest in the Middle East, there has been significant increase in international oil prices during the past two weeks," the company said in a statement.

The price of Brent crude oil, a widely-used international benchmark, had risen to $115 per barrel due to tension in Iraq.

Prices have now fallen to $112.50 but the average price of Indian imports during the last fortnight is still higher than the previous two weeks.