Date:17/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/05/17/stories/2005051702130300.htm

Back IOC to lose Rs 3,600 cr in April-May

Our Bureau

Mumbai , May 16

INDIAN Oil Corporation Ltd will have to bear a hit of Rs 3,610 crore on lower realisation from petroleum products sales in April and May alone.

IOC has lost Rs 2,045 crore on kerosene and cooking gas sales and Rs 1,565 crore on petrol and diesel, Dr N.G. Kannan, Director (Marketing), told reporters here on Monday.

Oil companies have been asking for an increase in prices of transport and cooking fuels since January as crude oil prices soared to around $56 a barrel last quarter. The Government, which controls prices, has not yet taken a decision on the hike.

Meanwhile, IOC plans to continue investing in enlarging its retail network by adding another 1,000 outlets to its existing network of 10,228 petrol pumps. IOC plans to spend Rs 2,770 crore on its marketing expansion, said officials.

It plans to set up 1,000 new retail outlets in 2005-06 at a cost of Rs 1,125 crore. Agricultural demand for diesel, especially during harvest season, accounts roughly for between 20-25 per cent of total demand, an IOC official said.

The company has seen its average per pump monthly sales fall by 8 per cent, Dr Kannan said. The industry average per pump sales or `throughput,' as it is known, fell 11 per cent during the same period.

While IOC's per pump throughput is roughly 153 kilolitres a month, private sector major Reliance has recorded roughly 430-440 kilolitres of average monthly fuel sales.