Shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were trading higher by up to 6% in otherwise subdued market after Brent crude prices fell in the international market.

At 11:39 am; HPCL (up 6% at Rs 323), IOCL (5% at Rs 176) and BPCL (3% at Rs 424) were up in the range of 3% to 6% on the BSE, as compared to 0.07% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The stock markets extended gains on Monday as investor sentiment improved following a 6 per cent slump in global oil prices.

Gaining for the third day, the Sensex ended at 35,165.5, up 241 points, or 0.7 per cent. The Nifty rose 83.5 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 10.688.7. Both the indices have rebounded 2.5 per cent in the last three trading sessions. In the preceding week, they had dropped 3.4 per cent each amid a sharp uptick in oil prices and drop in the rupee’s value against the dollar.

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) on Wednesday reported 4 per cent drop in its March quarter net profit on lower refining margins and inventory gains. Net profit in the January-March quarter of the fiscal year 2017-18 at Rs 1,748 crore compared with a net profit of Rs 1,819 crore in the year-ago period, HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh K Surana told reporters here. “The profit decline was because of lower inventory gains compared to the previous quarter,” he said.

Total expenses rose 13.8 per cent to 646.21 billion rupees, while income from operations rose 13 per cent to 663.51 billion rupees.

State-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd on Tuesday posted a nearly 4 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, hurt by higher expenses.

Shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) were trading lower in the range of 2% to 4% on the BSE in early morning trade on Thursday after global crude oil prices hit 3-year high on Wednesday.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation or HPCL (down 4% at Rs 308), Bharat Petroleum Corporation or BPCL (down 3.7% at Rs 390) and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals or MRPL (down 3% at Rs 104) have hit their respective 52-week lows on the BSE in intra-day trade today.

Reports that the state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) will absorb about Re1 a litre of the increase in diesel and petrol prices sent these stocks plummeting on Wednesday.

OMCs are Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC).

Shares of oil exploration, equipment and services companies were trading higher on the bourses by up to 7% on Wednesday in otherwise subdued market after on higher crude oil prices.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India, Aban Offshore, Jindal Drilling & Industries, Hindustan Oil Exploration and Deep Industries were up in the range of 3% to 7% on the BSE. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.30% at 33,780 points at 10:07 AM.

India’s largest hydrocarbon producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has told the government it will not raise the dividend payout for 2017-18.

The reason is that it had to go for two major deals, both on government order. Of acquiring a majority stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s (GSPC’s) KG basin gas block.

New Delhi: ONGC Ltd is in talks with Saudi Aramco and Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company to sell its 26 per cent stake in ONGC-Petro Additions Ltd (OPaL) to repay the bank loan it has taken to fund the acquisition of refiner HPCL.

The state-owned explorer had been keen to induct a strategic partner in OPaL.

ONGC, Oil India and BPCL’s Area-1 project moved a step forward this week although FID may still be months away. Even so, with start-up only in 2023E, any earnings uplift is years away with development spend likely to weigh on cashflow in the interim with Oil India, BPCL more vulnerable to downside surprises than ONGC. Nonetheless, with valuations inexpensive we keep our ‘Buy’ on ONGC, Oil India preferring IOCL to BPCL/HPCL in downstream SOEs.

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