Business Desk New Delhi

State-owned fuel retailers reported bumper profits in the June quarter, as a freeze on retail prices boosted petrol and diesel margins, offsetting earlier inventory losses, PTI reports. IOC, BPCL and HPCL reported a combined profit of Rs 16,184 crore in April-June, the first quarter of FY26 - more than two-and-a-half times higher y/y, according to regulatory filings. 

Among the three, BPCL led with a Rs 6,124 crore profit, surpassing IOC's Rs 5,689 crore, despite being nearly half its size.  HPCL posted a net profit of Rs 4,371 crore in Q1. BPCL also fared well on refining margins, earning USD 4.88 in turning every barrel of crude oil into fuels like petrol and diesel. 

This was better than the USD 2.15 per barrel gross refining margin of IOC and the USD 3.08 of HPCL. Its refinery run rate at 118% was higher than 107 per cent of IOC and 10.9 per cent of HPCL. At 153 kilolitre per month, BPCL sold more fuel per pump than its other public sector rivals. IOC had a throughput of 130 per kl per retail out in Q1. 

  The bumper earnings in April-June were buoyed by the retailers' earning an estimated Rs 10.3 per litre margin on petrol sale (Rs 4.4 a year earlier) and Rs 8.2 per litre on diesel (Rs 2.5 last year), according to brokerage ICICI Securities.   This after the three kept retail rates steady despite a 21% drop in input crude oil prices and a 16-18% reduction in benchmark international fuel rates.