HINDPETRO

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, June 16 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has sold at least 30 million barrels of spot crude to Asian refiners and trading firms so far this month and offered more this week, trade sources said, boosting exports during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

The United Arab Emirates producer sold cargoes of Das, Upper Zakum and Umm Lulu crude to refiners in India, China, South Korea and Japan as well as to global trading houses. Some were priced at flat to slight premiums to Dubai benchmarks for loading between June and August, the sources said.

The three crude grades are produced from fields inside the Gulf and must be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

The sales were conducted over the past two weeks, ahead of the signing of a preliminary agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end their conflict.

ASIAN BUYERS

Indian state refiners Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS and Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS have bought a combined 6 million barrels of Abu Dhabi oil so far this month, the sources said.

The cargoes were sold at parity or premiums of $1–$2 a barrel to Dubai prices on a cost-and-delivered basis via ship transfers at Fujairah, they added.

ADNOC's sales also included 3 million barrels of Das crude to Japan's largest refiner Eneos and 1 million barrels to South Korea's GS Energy.

For Upper Zakum, China's Unipec, the trading arm of state giant Sinopec, bought 6 million to 8 million barrels, while Vitol took 4 million barrels and Rongsheng Petrochemical 2 million barrels, the sources said.

South Korea's largest refiner SK Energy bought 7 million barrels of Umm Lulu crude, they added. Some cargoes were sold at premiums, two of the traders said. The companies typically do not comment on commercial sales.

ADNOC offered the cargoes on a free-on-board basis from storage at Fujairah, or from terminals at Zirku or Das Island, as well as via ship-to-ship transfers off the UAE, Oman or Malaysia. Buyers also had the option of cost-and-freight delivery.

ADNOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since the Iran war began, ADNOC has exported crude and products by switching off transponders to reduce the risk of Iranian attacks, with cargoes either transferred ship-to-ship or sailing directly to buyers.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Siyi Liu and Florence Tan in Singapore. Editing by Mark Potter)

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** Shares of 3I Infotech TIIN.NS jump as much as 5.5% to 17.34 rupees

** IT infra service provider gets 370.5 million rupee order from Hindustan Petroleum Corp Limited HPCL.NS

** Order to support HPCL's distributed IT operations across critical business location for three years

** YTD, TIIN up 4.4%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

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SINGAPORE, June 8 (Reuters) - Chinese refiners have delayed two projects slated to come online this year following disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies from the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, people familiar with the matter said.

The delays, which affect a combined capacity of 500,000 barrels per day, could cap fresh Chinese oil demand as well as global crude prices as refiners in the world's top crude importer already face headwinds from flagging fuel consumption.

Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co (HAPCO), a joint venture between Saudi Aramco 2222.SE and Chinese state-owned defense conglomerate Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group, has pushed back the startup of its 300,000 bpd refinery in the northeastern city of Panjin to September or early October from May or June, five people familiar with the matter said.

Consultancy Energy Aspects has said it expects the refinery to start in the latter part of the third quarter because of feedstock supply uncertainty linked to the Hormuz disruption.

HAPCO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Aramco declined to comment on questions about HAPCO's start-up timeline.

Aramco said in 2023 it would supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude to HAPCO. The project includes a 1.65 million metric tons-per-year (tpy) ethylene cracker and a 2 million tpy paraxylene unit.

Separately, the planned restart of a 200,000 bpd crude unit at PetroChina's Dalian refinery has been postponed indefinitely, according to three sources familiar with the project.

Reuters reported in January that the state oil firm planned to restart the plant around mid-year to capitalise on strong margins from processing discounted Russian crude. However, those discounts have largely disappeared since the conflict disrupted global supplies and increased competition for Russian barrels.

PetroChina, which has not publicly confirmed plans for the restart of the Dalian unit, did not respond to a request for comment.

The delays come as the Iran conflict has crunched refiners' margins, with the Middle East oil supply disruption driving up crude prices, while they face state fuel price caps. At the same time fuel demand has weakened due to electric vehicle growth.

As a result, throughput at China's refineries fell to about 13.3 million bpd in April, the lowest since August 2022, government data showed. That equates to about 69% of capacity, based on state refiners' estimates of total capacity at around 960 million metric tons a year, or about 19.2 million bpd.

INDIA AND CHINA LEAD CAPACITY ADDITIONS

Asia accounts for the bulk of new refinery capacity set to come online this year, according to analysts.

In India, state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) HPCL.NS and Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS are expected to add about 526,000 bpd refining capacity this year.

Start-up of HPCL's 180,000 bpd Barmer project was delayed a few months due to a fire, and the company has said it expects to commence operations there at 60% capacity starting this month.

Indian Oil Corp said in May that expansions at its Barauni, Gujarat and Panipat refineries will be completed in August, November and December respectively.

(Reporting by Siyi Liu, Trixie Yap in Singapore, Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Sam Li in Beijing; Editing by Florence Tan and Sonali Paul)

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June 5 (Reuters) -

• INDIA INDUSTRY SOURCE: STATE FUEL RETAILERS REVENUE LOSS ON GASOLINE SALES 9 RUPEES/LITRE, DIESEL 36.5 RUPEES/LITRE

• INDIA INDUSTRY SOURCE: STATE FUEL RETAILERS REVENUE LOSS ON LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS SALES AROUND 700 RUPEES/14.2 KG CYLINDER

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BPCL.NS

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By Nidhi Verma and Mohi Narayan

NEW DELHI, June 3 (Reuters) - India is expected to see less growth in gasoline and diesel demand this year after a series of price hikes last month that reflect higher oil costs triggered by the Iran war, with early signs of stress already visible in the trucking sector.

State retailers Indian Oil IOC.NS, Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS and Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS implemented four rounds of price hikes since mid-May after holding off earlier due to elections. Gasoline prices are now 7.8% higher while those for diesel are up 8.6%.

Analysts say there could be more price increases that are likely to dampen demand further, given that the retailers are still selling the fuels below market rates and are losing a combined 5.5 billion rupees ($57 million) daily.

Slowing growth in fuel sales for India, the world's third-largest importer and consumer, is set to dampen the outlook for global demand now that transportation fuel consumption in China has peaked.

"We expect India's gasoline demand growth to drop to around 3.5-3.7% in 2026 amid reduced discretionary driving," said Dylan Sim, an analyst at FGE NexantECA.

That compares with an earlier estimate of 4% growth. The consultancy has also cut its forecast for growth in diesel demand to 2% from 2.5%.

Moody's Indian rating arm ICRA has revised down its forecast for gasoline demand growth for this financial year to 3% to 4%, compared with 5% to 6% before the war. For diesel, it expects demand to stay flat or shrink versus an earlier projection of 2% to 3% growth.

Prashant Vashisth, senior vice president at ICRA, said that the diesel and gasoline price hikes could exacerbate inflation which could hurt end-user demand.

Increases in logistics and shipping costs, also stemming from the Middle East conflict, could lead to "weak industry growth which would negatively impact diesel demand," he added.

TRUCKERS AFFECTED BY LESS INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

Global oil prices LCOc1 have surged 40% to trade near $100 a barrel since the war restricted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which used to see a fifth of the world's oil supplies pass through before the conflict.

Signs of lower diesel demand due to slower industrial activity have emerged in the trucking sector.

Freight prices have fallen between 13% and 15% on three-quarters of key long-haul routes despite the increase in retail fuel prices, said SP Singh, senior fellow at the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

Singh noted that drivers are having to wait longer periods before making return trips.

"Truckers are not getting return tonnages. There is a delay of 3-5 days because manufacturing has slowed, that is hitting their revenue as their round trips per month have been reduced," he said.

Preliminary data showed that Indian retailers' gasoline sales in May rose 2.8% from a year earlier while gasoil sales edged up 0.9%. That compares with April figures of a 6.8% climb for gasoline and a 0.8% increase for gasoil.

($1 = 95.7625 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Mohi Narayan; Editing by Florence Tan and Edwina Gibbs)

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June 1 (Reuters) - Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS:

• HPCL - RAJNEESH NARANG CEASES TO BE DIRECTOR – FINANCE AND CFO EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2026

• HPCL - APPOINTS K VINOD AS CFO EFFECTIVE

• HPCL - ADDITIONAL CHARGE DIRECTOR-FINANCE GIVEN TO K S SHETTY FOR A PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS

Source text: ID:nBSE3mx5S1

Further company coverage: HPCL.NS

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By Florence Tan and Emily Chow

SINGAPORE, May 28 (Reuters) - Two supertankers and one liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week with their transponders switched off, and are heading for India and China, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The vessels joined a number of tankers leaving the Gulf this month although oil and LNG traffic overall was still limited.

Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Eagle Veracruz, carrying 2 million barrels of crude loaded from Saudi Arabia in late February, is heading to Quanzhou port in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian. The VLCC is expected to arrive at the port where Sinochem's refinery is located on June 16.

AET Tankers, which owns and manages Eagle Veracruz, and Sinochem did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Another VLCC Nissos Keros, carrying about 1.8 million barrels of Das crude from the United Arab Emirates, is expected to arrive at the Visakhapatnam port on June 3 where Hindustan Petroleum's HPCL.NS refinery is located.

Vitol, which chartered the Nissos Keros, and Kylades Maritime, the manager of the tanker, did not immediately respond to requests for comments outside of office hours.

Kpler data showed that the two supertankers exited the strait on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Chinese-flagged Hua Lin Wan operated by Chinese shipping group COSCO exited the strait. The tanker, carrying naphtha loaded from Kuwait in early March, is expected to reach Huizhou port in southern Guangdong province on June 12.

Separately, LNG tanker Umm Al Ashtan was last seen in ballast on shiptracking data off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on May 1, according to Kpler and LSEG data.

It reappeared on ship-tracking data on May 27 loaded with a cargo from Das Island, and is now off the coast of Oman, sailing eastward, signalling for India.

ADNOC, which is listed as the manager for the Umm Al Ashtan tanker, did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside its working hours.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28 has severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

Before ​the war began, shipping traffic through the strait averaged 125 ‌to ⁠140 daily passages. About 20,000 seafarers remain stranded on hundreds of ships in the Gulf.

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Emily Chow; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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May 26 (Reuters) - Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS:

• HPCL, TATA MOTORS PARTNER TO DEVELOP SCALABLE CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODEL FOR USED AUTOMOTIVE LUBRICANTS - STATEMENT

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: HPCL.NS

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Adds details throughout

By Nidhi Verma and Ananya Palyekar

May 25 (Reuters) - India's state-owned fuel retailers increased diesel prices by 2.71 rupees ($0.0283) per litre and petrol by 2.61 rupees, dealers said on Monday, the fourth hike in May to recoup some losses driven by higher crude costs due to the Iran war.

Indian state fuel retailers, which control 90% of the market, began raising pump prices from May 15 after elections were over in some key states.

Since then the state companies - Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS and Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS - have raised the prices of diesel by about 8.6% and petrol by about 7.8%.

A litre of petrol in New Delhi will now cost 102.12 rupees ($1.07), while diesel will be priced at 95.20 rupees ($0.9949) per litre.

Rising crude prices and supply disruptions after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have hit India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer.

New Delhi has also introduced austerity measures to curb fuel consumption and contain its oil import bill as policymakers brace for a prolonged energy shock.

Prices vary across states due to local taxes.

State retailers' losses on fuel sales have also risen as some bulk customers are turning to cheaper retail pumps, causing shortages in some areas.

IOC in a statement on Saturday said its retail sales of diesel for May 1-22 had risen by 18% from a year earlier, and petrol sales were up by 14%.

($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Sonali Paul)

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Adds details and background from paragraph 3

May 23 (Reuters) - Indian state-owned fuel retailers raised petrol and diesel prices for the third time this month, dealers said on Saturday, as the companies look to recoup losses caused by elevated crude oil prices amid the Iran war.

Petrol in New Delhi will cost 0.87 rupees (just under 1 U.S. cent) more at 99.51 rupees a litre, while diesel prices will be raised 0.91 rupees to 92.49 rupees per litre, dealers said.

India, the world's third-largest importer and consumer of oil, was one of the last major economies to raise retail fuel prices after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in prices globally.

The price of fuel has become roughly 5 rupees more expensive over the three price increases. The fuel price rise announced on May 15 was India's first in four years.

The companies are raising pump prices in a staggered manner, similar to the way they did in April 2022, when they increased retail prices after elections in some key states, including northern Uttar Pradesh.

Opposition parties have said the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had postponed the current price increases to try to win votes in recent state elections.

Still, sources at refiners have said more price increases are needed to recoup the losses.

Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS (BPCL) continues to incur a revenue loss of 25 to 30 rupees per litre on diesel and 10 to 14 rupees per litre on petrol despite the higher prices, the refiner's chairman said earlier this week.

India's oil ministry has said the government has no plans to provide financial support for refiners.

BPCL, Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS and Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS together control more than 90% of a network of 103,000 fuel stations and tend to set prices in tandem.

($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Chris Thomas in Mexico City; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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Adds companies planning a staggered increase in pump prices

NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) - India state-fuel retailers raised petrol and diesel prices by less than a rupee per litre on Tuesday, the second increase in a week to recover some losses from high crude prices resulting from the Iran war.

After the rise of roughly 0.9 rupees ($0.0093), consumers will pay 98.64 rupees for a litre of petrol in New Delhi and 91.58 rupees for a litre of diesel, dealers said. Prices vary across the country because of regional taxes.

Although petrol and diesel prices are deregulated in India, the government exerts significant influence on prices as the majority shareholder of the key retail companies.

Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the oil ministry, said on Monday the state fuel retailers have been losing 7.5 billion rupees daily. The government has no plans to provide financial support for them, Sharma said.

Sources at refiners said more price hikes are needed to recoup the losses. The fuel retailers did not respond to Reuters' emails seeking comment.

India is the world's third-largest importer and consumer of oil and was one of the last major economies to raise retail fuel prices after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in prices globally.

State-run Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS, which together control more than 90% of a network of 103,000 fuel stations, tend to set prices in tandem.

The state-run suppliers raised petrol and diesel prices on Friday by 3 rupees a litre, the country's first price increase in four years.

Dealers and analysts said they expected a staggered increase in prices, similar to April 2022 during the COVID pandemic.

Opposition parties said the government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had postponed price increases to try to win votes in recent state elections. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party won two of the four states, expanding its political influence.

Modi has urged people to limit their travel to conserve fuel and curb buying gold.

($1=96.3450 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Mohi Narayan, Tanvi Mehta and Nidhi Verma, Chris Thomas in Mexico City; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Thomas Derpinghaus and Neil Fullick)

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May 15 (Reuters) - Indian state fuel retailers have raised petrol and diesel prices for the first time in four years by 3 rupees ($0.0313) per liter, according to retailers in Delhi, as they aim to recoup some of the losses incurred due to higher global oil prices.

($1 = 95.7625 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Chandini Monnappa; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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** India state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum's HPCL.NS quarterly profit jumped 46.1% y/y, helped by stronger refining margins and steady fuel demand

** Shares down ~4.8% at 371.75

HIGH CRUDE, WEAK MARKETING MARGINS CLOUD NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK

** Nomura ("Neutral," PT: 440 rupees) expects sharp losses in fuel and LPG marketing segment in Q1FY27, says earnings hinge on fuel price hikes

** Macquarie ("Outperform," PT: 510 rupees) projects a complete impact of elevated crude prices to hit in June quarter, weighing on near-term earnings

** Ambit Capital ("Sell," PT: 287 rupees) says elevated crude prices, currency pressure and insufficient retail fuel price hikes will keep integrated margins weak

** BOB Capital Markets ("Hold," PT: 438 rupees) says demand-led growth supports business, but sees challenges from crude supply, elevated prices and marketing margins

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru)

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May 13 (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by stronger refining margins and steady fuel demand.

• The state-run refiner logged a net profit of about 49.02 billion rupees ($512.37 million) for the quarter ended March 31, up nearly 46.1% from a year earlier.

• Sale of products rose 4.5% to 1.23 trillion rupees, supported by higher fuel sales volumes.

• Gross refining margin-the profit from making refined products from one barrel of oil-climbed to $14.27 per barrel in the quarter, from $8.44 per barrel a year earlier.

• Fuel sales rose 2.4% year-on-year to 13.0 million tonnes, driven by resilient demand for diesel and petrol.

• The company declared a dividend of 19.25 rupees per share.

• Shares of HPCL were up 4.8% in afternoon trade, having fallen about 23% so far this year.

• ($1 = 95.6725 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

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Adds details on price increase from government officials

By Neha Arora and Nikunj Ohri

NEW DELHI, May 12 (Reuters) - India will at some stage need to assess how long state-run fuel retailers can sustain losses from selling transport fuels below market prices, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at an industry event on Tuesday.

Petrol and diesel spot prices have surged to multi-year highs globally as the Middle East conflict disrupted supply, but governments in several major economies have held down pump prices to shield consumers from inflation.

A joint secretary in the oil ministry, Sujata Sharma, had earlier said that India had no plans to ​compensate oil marketing companies for these losses.

Fuel retailers are incurring losses of about 100 rupees ($1.06) per litre on diesel and 20 rupees per litre on petrol, Sharma said last month.

India is the world's third-largest oil importer and ​consumer, meeting more than 90% of its crude oil needs and about half of ⁠its natural gas demand through imports.

Indian state fuel retailers, including Indian Oil Corporation IOC.NS, Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS, which account for most of the fuel sales in the country, have not raised gasoline and diesel ​prices since April 2022.

A senior government official separately told Reuters that compensating oil marketing companies while keeping fuel prices unchanged is not fiscally sustainable.

Another official said any price increase would be substantial enough to discourage spending on petrol and diesel, but not so large as to sharply stoke inflation.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Oil minister Puri also said India has crude and liquefied natural gas sufficient for 60 days, and liquefied petroleum gas for 45 days.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged on Sunday a spate of measures including fuel conservation, work-from-home practices and limits on travel and imports to ease pressure on the country's foreign exchange reserves.

The country's balance of payments is expected to worsen sharply during the current 2026-27 fiscal year, with the deficit projected at about $66 billion to $70 billion, up from an estimated $26 billion to $28 billion in 2025-26.

(Reporting by Neha Arora; Writing by Mohi Narayan; Editing by YP Rajesh and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Add comments

NEW DELHI, May 4 (Reuters) - India has no plans to compensate state-run fuel retailers for losses from selling transport fuels below market prices, a senior petroleum ministry official said on Monday, even as companies raised prices for some industrial and bulk customers.

Indian state fuel retailers have raised prices of liquefied petroleum gas for industrial customers and jet fuel sold to foreign carriers, but there has been no increase in retail prices of gasoline, gasoil, LPG or jet fuel for Indian carriers.

Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS and Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS have also raised diesel prices for bulk buyers.

Sharma said bulk customers account for about 10% of overall diesel sales.

The government's efforts are focused on protecting the retail customers, she added.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, April 28 (Reuters) - India has asked motorists to avoid panic buying and clarified that there was no proposal to raise pump prices for diesel and gasoline, a government official said on Tuesday.

"We have adequate supplies of liquefied petroleum gas, petrol, and diesel. There has been no increase in prices. Please avoid panic buying and do not believe rumours," Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the federal oil ministry, said at a news conference on Tuesday in an appeal to buyers.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, has been hit by rising oil prices triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S.-Isreli war on Iran.

India's crude import prices rose to $120 per barrel earlier this month, denting the margins of retailers on the sale of gasoline and gasoil, as the higher costs have not been factored into the pump prices.

Indian refiners have not raised pump prices of gasoline and gasoil in four years to shield consumers, despite volatility in global markets.

Analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities in a recent report estimated there was a need to raise the price of a liter of gasoline and gasoil by 25-28 rupees after elections in some states end on April 29.

According to estimates by Mumbai-based ICICI Securities, profit after tax for these oil retailers likely declined by 82% in the March quarter over a year ago, as crude oil costs soared but retail prices did not move up in tandem.

Reliance Industries RELI.NS, operator of the world's biggest refining complex and India’s biggest company by market value, late last week flagged "unprecedented" supply disruptions and a sharp hit to profit in its March-quarter earnings.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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NEW DELHI, April 27 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp's IOC.NS, the country's top refiner and fuel retailers, sale of diesel and gasoline has surged more than 13% during April 1-26, 2026, its head of marketing, Saumitra Priya Srivastava, said in a post on social media platform X

• IOC, the country's top fuel retailer and refiner, is meeting the local demand through its over 42,000 fuel stations, he said

• Diesel sales in some parts, mainly in southern Andhra Pradesh, surged by about 30% to 33%, leading to some retail outlets facing shortages, said Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the federal petroleum ministry

• Sharma said India has sufficient stocks of diesel and gasoline, while some retail outlets have experienced problems due to panic buying

• She said India is not expected to import diesel and gasoline to meet local demand

• Earlier in the day, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu said in a post on X that action should be taken against anyone attempting to engage in black marketing or to create artificial shortages of diesel and gasoline

  
  

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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NEW DELHI, April 23 (Reuters) - Indian fuel retailers are suffering a revenue loss of 100 Indian rupees ($1.06) per liter on the local sale of diesel and 20 rupees per liter on gasoline for selling the two fuels at below market rates, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in India's oil ministry said on Thursday.

Indian refiners last raised fuel prices in April 2021. India has no plans to raise fuel prices as of now to shield customers, she added.

($1 = 94.0950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

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April 21 (Reuters) - Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS:

• HPCL - LEAKAGE OF HYDROCARBONS THROUGH ONE OF VALVES/FLANGES IN HEAT EXCHANGER CIRCUIT CAUSED FIRE

• HPCL - THERE IS NO LOSS OF LIFE OR INJURY TO ANY PERSONNEL

• HPCL - FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL IMPACT BEING ASSESSED

• HPCL - FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL IMPACT, PRIMA FACIE IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE MATERIAL.

• HPCL - INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN INITIATED TO ASCERTAIN CAUSE OF INCIDENT AND TO UNDERTAKE NECESSARY REMEDIAL MEASURES

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SRT9Y

Further company coverage: HPCL.NS

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Updates story from April 16 to add market reaction on Friday in paragraph 4, context in paragraphs 7 and 10

By Nidhi Verma, Jaspreet Kalra and Nimesh Vora

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - India's central bank has urged state-run oil refiners to curb spot dollar purchases and tap a special credit line for their foreign exchange needs, three sources said, reviving measures used earlier in the Ukraine war to ease pressure on the rupee.

A surge in oil prices and heavy foreign portfolio outflows have battered the Indian currency. The rupee has fallen more than 3% to record lows this year, making it Asia's worst-performing major currency.

Using the special credit facility would reduce dollar demand from refiners, helping ease pressure on the rupee, two of the sources said. Refiners are major buyers of dollars to pay for oil imports.

When Indian markets opened on Friday morning, the rupee INR=IN strengthened by 0.4% to 92.80 against the dollar, its strongest level in a week.

The state-run refiners have been asked to access the credit line via the State Bank of India, the sources said. SBI is India's largest bank and is state-backed.

Since the large state-run lender already handles sizeable merchant flows, funneling oil-related FX demand through SBI can help reduce the overall market impact, one of the sources said.

The refiners are also being encouraged to route daily dollar purchases through SBI instead of multiple banks, the source said, because pooling dollar demand with one lender would help better manage the market impact.

All three sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The Reserve Bank of India and SBI did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The credit line is available to major state-run refiners Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, which together control about half of India's 5.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity.

Refiners can either buy dollars at the RBI reference rate or draw on the credit line for their FX needs, a second source said. The credit line can alleviate immediate dollar demand from the market, supporting the rupee.

None of the refiners responded to emails seeking comment.

Three spot FX traders, separate from the three sources cited earlier, said they had seen an anecdotal decline in the oil companies' activity in the spot market in recent days.

RUPEE STRAIN

The RBI has turned to crisis-era measures, which sources said have been in place for about two weeks, to support the rupee amid pressure linked to the Iran war.

Concerns about spillovers from the conflict helped push the rupee to an all-time low past 95 per dollar in late March.

The central bank has taken other steps to shore up the currency. It has clamped down on arbitrage trades that it said exacerbated market volatility and barred Indian banks from offering corporates non-deliverable forward contracts.

The RBI has also sold dollars from its FX reserves to support the currency.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Jaspreet Kalra and Nimesh Vora; Editing by Mark Potter and Kate Mayberry)

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By Nidhi Verma, Jaspreet Kalra and Nimesh Vora

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - India's central bank has urged state-run oil refiners to curb spot dollar purchases and tap a special credit line for their foreign exchange needs, three sources said, reviving measures used earlier in the Ukraine war to ease pressure on the rupee.

A surge in oil prices and heavy foreign portfolio outflows have battered the Indian currency. It has fallen more than 3% to record lows this year, making it Asia's worst-performing major currency.

Using the special credit facility would reduce dollar demand from refiners, helping ease pressure on the rupee, two of the sources said. Refiners are major buyers of dollars to pay for oil imports.

The state-run refiners have been asked to access the credit line via the State Bank of India, the sources said. SBI is India's largest bank and is state-backed.

All three sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media. The Reserve Bank of India and SBI did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The credit line is available to major state-run refiners Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, which together control about half of India's 5.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity.

The refiners are also being encouraged to route daily dollar purchases through SBI instead of multiple banks, one of the sources said.

With SBI already handling sizeable merchant flows, funneling oil-related FX demand through SBI can help reduce the overall market impact, this person added.

Refiners can either buy dollars at the RBI reference rate or draw on the credit line for their FX needs, a second source said.

None of the refiners responded to emails seeking comment.

Three spot FX traders, separate from the three sources cited earlier, said they had seen an anecdotal decline in the oil companies' activity in the spot market in recent days.

RUPEE STRAIN

The RBI has turned to crisis-era measures, which sources said have been in place for about two weeks, to support the rupee amid pressure linked to the Iran war.

Concerns about spillovers from the conflict helped push the rupee to an all-time low past 95 per dollar in late March.

The central bank has taken other steps to shore up the currency. It has clamped down on arbitrage trades that it said exacerbated market volatility and barred Indian banks from offering corporates non-deliverable forward contracts.

The RBI has also sold dollars from its FX reserves to support the currency.

The rupee has strengthened following the bank's measures, recovering about 2% from its record low. It was last quoted at 93.20 per dollar on Thursday.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Jaspreet Kalra and Nimesh Vora. Editing by Mark Potter)

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By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, April 13 (Reuters) - India's state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS has issued a rare tender seeking a liquefied petroleum gas tanker to immediately load propane and butane from Russia's Ust-Luga port, a tender document seen by Reuters on Monday showed.

The vessel, to be loaded with 12,000 metric tons of butane and 8,000 tons of propane for discharge on India's west coast, must not be under sanctions and must have no links to Iran, the document said.

HPCL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indian state refiners are seeking to buy LPG, used as cooking gas, from more diversified sources including Russia as India faces its worst LPG supply crisis in decades.

Supplies from the Middle East have been disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Indian authorities have previously said they are purchasing LPG from countries including the U.S., Norway, Canada, and Russia.

India consumed 33.15 million tons of LPG last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma. Editing by Mark Potter)

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April 9 (Reuters) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL.NS:

• INDIAN FUEL RETAILERS ARE BUYING DIESEL AT DISCOUNTED RATES FROM REFINERS - INDUSTRY SOURCE

Further company coverage: BPCL.NS

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LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refinery profit margins fell 36 cents on Tuesday to about $15.33 a barrel.

• A total of 23,250 metric tons of E5 gasoline barges traded in the Argus window, with BP, ExxonMobil and Equinor selling to TOTSA and MB Energy.

• An additional 13,000 tons of E10 gasoline barges traded in the session, with Phillips 66, ExxonMobil and Equinor selling to TOTSA, Varo, MB Energy and Shell.

• NORSI, Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery, suspended operations on April 5 after a Ukrainian drone attack, two industry sources said on Tuesday.

• Indian refiner HPCL sold two parcels of naphtha to energy trader Trafigura at deep discounts of about $380 and around $290 a ton to Middle East quotes for mid-April delivery owing to high chloride content, six trade sources said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly
Editing by David Goodman
)

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SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - For tenders of crude and other oil products, please click:

Crude CRU/TENDA Naphtha NAP/TENDA Gasoline MOG/TENDA Jet/Diesel MDIS/TENDA Fuel Oil FUEL/TENDA

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - For tenders of crude and other oil products, please click:

Crude CRU/TENDA Naphtha NAP/TENDA Gasoline MOG/TENDA Jet/Diesel MDIS/TENDA Fuel Oil FUEL/TENDA

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh;)

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BENGALURU, March 29 (Reuters) - Two India-bound liquefied petroleum gas tankers carrying about 94,000 metric tons of the cooking gas have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz and are heading towards India, the government said on Sunday.

The carriers BW Tyr and BW Elm are expected to arrive in Mumbai on March 31 and New Mangalore on April 1 respectively, the petroleum ministry said in a statement.

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipping through the strait, but Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" may transit the waterway if they coordinate with Iranian authorities.

The ships are the latest Indian-flagged vessels to make it through the chokepoint. Four LPG tankers have already completed the crossing, while three more are still in the western section of the strait, LSEG ship tracking data showed on Friday.

A total of 18 Indian-flagged vessels with 485 Indian seafarers remain in the western Gulf region, the government said.

India, the world's second-largest LPG importer, last year consumed 33.15 million tons of the gas, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

Port operations across India remain normal with no congestion reported, the government said.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)

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By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, March 28 (Reuters) - Two liquefied petroleum gas tankers, BW Elm and BW Tyr, are crossing the Strait of Hormuz bound for India, according to ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipping ​through the strait, but Iran said this week that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the waterway if ‌they coordinate with Iranian authorities.

The two India-flagged vessels have crossed the Gulf area and are in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the data showed.

India is gradually moving its stranded LPG cargoes out from the strait, with four LPG tankers moved so far - Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Pine Gas, and Jag Vasant.

As of Friday, 20 Indian-flagged ships including five LPG carriers were stranded in the Gulf, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the federal shipping ministry, said.

LPG carriers Jag Vikram, Green Asha and Green Sanvi are still in the western Strait of Hormuz, LSEG data show.

India, the world's second-largest LPG importer, is battling its worst gas crisis in decades, with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from any shortage of cooking gas.

The country consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

India is also loading LPG onto its empty vessels stranded in the Gulf.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Jan Harvey)

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Adds details on fiscal impact

By Chris Thomas and Nikunj Ohri

NEW DELHI, March 27 (Reuters) - India has slashed excise duties on petrol and diesel to protect consumers and curb a potential spike in inflation, while imposing windfall taxes on aviation fuel and diesel exports, amid volatile global oil markets due to the Iran war.

Global oil prices have surged past $100 per barrel after the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which ​serves as a conduit for 40% of India's crude oil imports, since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on February 28.

In a government order late Thursday, India's finance ministry reduced the special excise duty on petrol to 3 rupees ($0.0318) per litre from 13 rupees. It also cut the duty on diesel to zero from 10 rupees per litre.

The move comes ahead of elections next month in four Indian states and one federal territory, with voters very sensitive to higher prices.

India will lose 70 billion rupees ($739 million) a fortnight from the excise cuts, although it will recover part of this - 15 billion rupees - through separate export taxes on some fuel products, Vivek Chaturvedi, chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, told a press briefing.

The net hit to government finances will be 55 billion rupees per fortnight.

The yield on 10-year government bonds rose 7 basis points to 6.95%, its highest level in 20 months on concerns that the government may struggle to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.3% of GDP for the financial year beginning April.

The tax cuts also ease the burden for oil marketing companies. While fuel prices in India are technically deregulated, state-run oil companies, which control 90% of the retail network, do not always raise prices when crude climbs.

As a result, consumers are shielded from volatility, with either the government or the companies absorbing the increases.

"Government has taken a huge hit on its taxation revenues to ensure very high losses of oil companies, approximately 24 rupees a litre for petrol and 30 rupees a litre for diesel, at this time of sky high international prices, are reduced," Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a post on X.

The government said that at current crude rates, the combined daily under-recoveries being absorbed by oil firms stand at 24 billion rupees.

Shares of oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS and HPCL HPCL.NS reversed early gains to close slightly higher.

WINDFALL TAX ON EXPORTS

The diesel export tax was set at 21.5 rupees a litre, along with a 29.5 rupees a litre tax on aviation fuel exports, the order said.

Between April 2025 and January 2026, India exported 14 million metric tons of gasoline and 23.6 million tons of gasoil. Most refiners have stopped exporting fuels. Reliance Industries RELI.NS is the country's biggest fuel exporter.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will ensure there is no shortage of petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

It will support oil marketing companies so that citizens are spared price hikes and ensure that jet fuel prices do not rise, she told news agency ANI.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, relies heavily on overseas supplies.

In a letter dated Thursday, the petroleum ministry said it will raise the allocation of liquefied petroleum gas to commercial and industrial users by 20%, taking total supply to 70% of pre-crisis levels.

The increase builds on an existing 50% allocation, with priority to sectors such as steel, automobiles, textiles and other essential industries. India had cut gas allocation for non-cooking purposes after the start of the Iran war.

India consumed 33.15 million tons of cooking gas last year, with imports covering about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have stressed adequate arrangements are in place, including for fertiliser supplies for the summer sowing season and coal to meet rising electricity demand.

The government, in a separate statement, assured the public that retail petrol and diesel prices will not change.

($1 = 94.1980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chris Thomas and Nikunj Ohri. Additional reporting by Tanvi Mehta, Aditi Shah and Rajesh Kumar Singh. Editing by YP Rajesh, Arun Koyyur and Mark Potter)

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