IOC to start rationing fuel supplies

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), after announcing a 7.1% dip in its net profit in 2007-08, said it has decided to start restricting supplies of petrol and diesel fuel to pumps. IOC Chairman & Managing Director Sarthak Behuria said sales of petrol and diesel will now be in line only with what is available domestically, without resorting to imports, especially of diesel. With the prices of international crude oil and petroleum products hitting record highs, Behuria said IOC would be left with no money to import fuel. IOC is the country’s largest fuel retailer with 17,642 petrol pumps. The oil companies cannot continue meeting the demand unrelentingly and have to take a call somewhere,” he said. The IOC chairman made it clear that if fuel prices are not hiked and duties not reduced, the company would run out of cash to import crude by the end of September. IOC loses Rs 300 crore (US$70 million) a day on the sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and has posted a net loss of Rs 414.3 crore (US$96.67 million) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08, against a profit of Rs 1,609.67 crore (US$375.59 million) in same period a year ago. (May 29, 2008)