India's BPCL reports first quarterly loss in 15 on higher crude costs

Bharat Petroleum

22/07/2026 11:00

    July 22 (Reuters) - India's Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Wednesday posted its first quarterly loss in 15, as elevated crude oil prices eroded fuel marketing margins.
BPCL posted a net loss of 39.62 billion rupees ($410.5 million) for the three months June 30, against a profit of 61.24 billion rupees a year ago.
Average global Brent crude oil prices LCOc1 were about 45% higher than in the year-ago quarter, driven by tensions in the Middle East.
This pushed fuel marketing margins into negative territory, with the cost of retailing fuel exceeding earnings from sales.
Petrol and diesel marketing margins averaged negative 10.6 rupees per litre and 18.4 rupees per litre, respectively, during the quarter, according to Jefferies analysts.
The company's total expenses jumped about 36% to 1.66 trillion rupees, with a 68.7% surge in cost of raw materials consumed. 
Fuel demand weakened in India, the world's third-largest importer and consumer of oil, with consumption declining 4.6%, 6.5%, and 3.1% year-on-year in April, May, and June, respectively.
Revenue from operations rose more than 23% to 1.59 trillion rupees despite the drop in demand, as the state-owned firm received compensation of 18.98 billion rupees from the government for losses in the liquefied petroleum gas segment. 

($1 = 96.5275 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((Anuran.Sadhu@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8697274436;))