Oil companies' profit increased by ₹15, no relief to customers; Government saves ₹60,000 crores on imports

Since March, the country's oil companies' profits have increased by Rs 15 per litre of petrol. Diesel has risen by Rs 12. During this time, crude oil fell from $84 per barrel to less than $72 on Friday. People can benefit from this at a rate of three rupees per litre. Regardless, customers have not received any relief.

Crude oil hit $71.31 per barrel on Friday. The government expects to save Rs 60,000 crore on imports in the current fiscal year as prices continue to fall. However, customers do not benefit from this. According to the ICRA report, oil marketing companies can provide benefits if they so choose, but they have kept oil prices stable for a long time.

Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) report says that the price of crude oil has fallen by 12 percent since March. Many reports believe that Saudi Arabia is preparing to abandon its price target of $ 100 per barrel for crude oil to increase production. This is expected to further reduce prices in the coming time, which may further increase the profits of domestic companies.

Every dollar per barrel fall in the crude oil price saves about Rs 13,000 crore on India's import bill every year. The Economic Survey of 2024 estimated the average price of crude oil at $ 84 per barrel this financial year. However, it is between 70 to 75 dollars now per barrel. If prices stabilize within this range, then India is likely to save a lot on its crude oil imports for the rest of this financial year, experts say. This would also cut the rate of inflation. Also, more investments would be possible.

Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil together earned a profit of Rs 81,000 crore in the financial year 2023-24. Out of this, the profit of Indian Oil was Rs 39,619 crore. The profit of Bharat Petroleum was Rs 26,673 crore. Hindustan Petroleum earned a profit of Rs 14,694 crore.