Refiners
Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp were in heavy demand in late afternoon trade on Thursday as global crude oil prices slipped to fresh 6-1/2 year lows in international markets following record monthly output by
Saudi Arabia and a rise in inventories in the US, both contributing to an existing global glut.
Brent Oil Futures slipped 30 cents at $46.86 a barrel, their lowest in February 2009 as a slowdown in China and a contraction of GDP in Japan fueled fears of a slowdown in demand.
A fall in crude oil prices helps local refiners such as Bharat Petroleum,
Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corp to reduce their under-recoveries on the local sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. Petrol and Diesel are already freely priced in India.
As a consequence, Indian Oil jumped 0.5 percent to 400 rupees.
BPCL was up 1 percent to 898.80 rupees on the
National Stock Exchange. The open interest of their futures was up between 1.9 to 5.4 percent as well. The gains are in contrast to a 1.5 percent fall in the main index Nifty.
(Image credits: Indiatimes)
