Shares of oil companies surge on drop in crude oil prices

NEW DELHI: Shares of oil companies such as Essar Oil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation ( HPCL), Bharat Petroleum ( BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOCL) rose up to 18 per cent in intra-day trade on Monday as crude oil prices fell in international markets.

Reacting to the news, Essar Oil rose 18 per cent, HPCL rose as much as 2.4 per cent, while BPCL rallied 3.4 per cent, IOC gained 2.3 per cent.

BPCL was trading 3 per cent higher at Rs 927.40. It hit a low of Rs 898 and a high of Rs 932 in trade today.

IOC was trading 2.09 per cent higher at Rs 425. It hit a low of Rs 418 and a high of Rs 426.25 in trade today.

Oil prices fell sharply early on Monday after Greece rejected austerity measures demanded in return for bailout money and as China rolled out an unprecedented series of steps to prevent a full-blown stock market crash, Reuters reported.

International benchmark Brent futures were down around half a dollar at $59.80 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures were at $55.07 a barrel, down almost $2 since they last traded before the July 4 national holiday, added the report.