Private oil companies’ share in fuel retail trade increases thanks to stable prices at the domestic pump

New Delhi: The joint venture of Reliance Industries and blood pressure has sold about 50% more gasoline and diesel in the retail market this year compared with a year earlier as refining margins plummet globally while remaining stable. domestic pump prices guarantee attractive profits.

According to industry data, RIL-BP’s petrol and diesel sales rose 49 per cent and 53 per cent respectively in the April-August period this year from a year earlier, enabling them to capture a domestic market share of 2.75 per cent for petrol and 4.35 per cent for diesel.

Nayara, the Rosneft-backed refiner that operates the largest number of petrol pumps among private players, sold 14% more petrol and 12% more diesel this year, ending with a 5.7% market share in petrol and 5.2% in diesel. Shell, another private retailer, sold 11% less petrol this year. However, it sold 6% more diesel. It has less than a 0.5% share in both fuels.

The share of private players in gasoline retail trade has increased to 9% this year from 8% last year; in the case of diesel, it has risen to 9.6% from 7.7%.

Refining margins have been under enormous pressure for months, prompting refiners to focus on marketing margins by retailing gasoline and diesel, said an industry analyst who asked not to be named.

Private refiners export and sell to state oil companies in the domestic market at a price that prevails in the international market. If they do so, they only get refining margins, which have contracted sharply in recent months. But if they choose to sell their product through their own retail network, they end up getting an additional marketing margin, which has expanded dramatically these days because domestic pump prices have not fallen in line with international gasoline and diesel prices. Domestic pump prices have remained virtually unchanged for a year, except for a slight decline before the general election.