New Delhi: A stagnant economy during the COVID-19 lockdown and the historical drop in crude oil prices dented the revenues of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) by around 40 percent year-on-year in April-June period. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan told the Lok Sabha on Monday, "The COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented fall in demand which in-turn has reduced revenue consequent to lockdown imposed in the country."
According to the data shared by the minister, Indian Oil and BPCL seemed to be hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian Oil registered a drop of nearly 41 percent in its revenue in the April-June period at Rs 88,936.54 crore, down from Rs 1,50,136.7 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. BPCL, on the other hand, also saw its revenue declining by 41 percent as the figure settled at Rs 50,616.92 crore as opposed to Rs 85,859.59 crore in the April-June period of FY19.
HPCL recorded a fall of 38 percent in revenue in the April-June period at Rs 45,885 crore, down from Rs 74,530 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
In comparison to the sale of other petroleum products, natural gas displayed more resilience as its consumption and sale surpassed the figures for the previous financial year for two months out of four in the April-July period. The overall sale of natural gas settled at 150.25 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Per Day (MMSCMD) in April-July period, marginally down from 153.17 MMSCMD in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
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The sale of natural gas in fertilizers sector was at 48.44 MMSCMD in April-July as opposed to 43.87 MMSCMD in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. In the CGD sector, however, sale fell from 28.69 MMSCD in April-July period of FY20 to 16.20 MMSCMD for the same period this year. The sale in power sector remained largely unchanged at 30.68 MMSCMD this year as opposed to 30.19 MMSCMD in the year-ago period.
For state-run gas utility GAIL, revenue dropped 34 percent in the April-June period, with the figure settling at 12,060 crore as opposed to Rs 18,276 crore in the year-ago period.
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