September 17, 2021: The pandemic, Covid-19, was at its peak in FY 2020-21 and played havoc with the fortunes of almost every sector of the economy. In the oil sector too quite a few companies suffered losses, but oil marketing companies improved their profit after tax (PAT) significantly. They benefitted by the inventory gains as 84 per cent of the crude they processed was imported whose prices fluctuated during the fiscal. Click column Special Database for company-wise PAT in FY 2020-21 which ended on March 31.

---

September 16, 2021: Sector-wise consumption of natural gas is important to assess the natural gas scene in the country. This data has just been made available. We had already uploaded figures regarding production, import and domestic availability of natural gas. Click column Gas Scene for sector-wise consumption of natural gas in July and also high lights of the gas report for the month.

---

September 10, 2021 | BPCL Selloff: Foreign Equity Players May Be Fronting For The Big Boys | The picture is almost clear now. The government is negotiating with the two private equity companies for sale of BPCL after knowing their identity and business strategy. Both are believed to be fronting for two oil majors which are keen to acquire the retail marketing network of BPCL. If the strategy works out as planned, the government succeeds in getting a foreign oil major into the Indian market which can inject competition in the downstream sector. They need only retail network and not the refineries which, on present reckoning, may go to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Last week, IOC chairman talked about his company’s plan to expand the refining capacity by 25 million tonne per annum. He must have already been sounded about the possibility of acquiring BPCL refineries. Which are these foreign oil companies for whom the private equity players are fronting. Click Free Access column Petro Intelligence to read an exciting piece.