Shares of oil marketing cos plunge, BPCL down 5%

Mumbai, March 9 Share prices of the oil marketing companies (OMC) dropped on Tuesday with the scrip of privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) falling over 5 per cent.

At 2.16 p.m., BPCL shares on the BSE were trading at Rs 441.05, lower by Rs 25.95 or 5.56 per cent from its previous close.

Its shares fell amid reports of the company selling 4 per cent of treasury shares worth Rs 3,774 crore in a bulk deal.

Shares of other OMCs also declined on Tuesday with stocks of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) trading 3.67 per cent lower at Rs 99.75 per share.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's (HPCL) shares were trading at Rs 234.60, lower by 3.62 per cent from its previous close.

Further, revenues of OMCs are likely to remain under pressure for some time now as official sources indicated that with fuel price rise becoming an election issue, the Centre would not like to further escalate the matter with more increases in the auto fuel prices required in the wake of firming of prices in the global oil market.

The halt in retail price hikes, at a time when crude oil prices are surging would put immense pressure on the margins of the oil marketing companies, experts said.

The May delivery contract of Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange is currently trading above $68 per barrel.

( With inputs from IANS )