Energy shocks triggered by the war between United States and Iran have slapped India's oil marketing companies with a potential loss of Rs 1.2 lakh crore in the first quarter of FY27.
The loss far exceeds the street estimates of losses worth Rs 27,000 crore per month, translating to Rs 81,000 crore per quarter, considering crude remained at $120 per barrel level.
Notably, even as crude oil prices have only briefly stayed around or above the $120 per barrel mark, majorly staying below $115 per barrel, OMCs are still looking at a bigger loss than what was anticipated.
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OMC giants like Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. have a cumulative net worth of nearly Rs 3.48 lakh crore as of September 2025.
Of these companies, IOCL's net worth is the highest and stands at Rs 1,97,089 crore, followed by BPCL with a net worth of Rs 93,936 crore and HPCL with a Rs 56,889-crore net worth.
Companies | Networth* (Rs crore) |
IOCL | 1,97,089 |
BPCL | 93,936 |
HPCL | 56,889 |
Total | 3,47,914 |
Theoretically, if the situation does not improve and losses remains consistent, these companies have only two more quarters before their net worth slip into negative territory.
How Can Crisis Be Averted
In these dire times, only price hikes across LPG, petrol and diesel can become these OMCs' saving grace. Ever since the war began, supply of Liquified Petroleum Gas has been the worst hit in the country, and therefore LPG will be looking at the sharpest increase of them all.
Currently, a domestic LPG cylinder costs somewhere around Rs 912. In order for the oil companies to sustain, the per cylinder price would need to be increased by a whopping 105% or Rs 956 to cost around Rs 1,868.
Similarly, petrol prices might have to be raised by 29.5% or Rs 28 increase to somewhere around Rs 130 per litre (in Mumbai) or above, while diesel needs a hike of over 36% to levels of approximately Rs 122 per litre or more.
At present, the per litre petrol prices in major Indian cities range between Rs 94 (Delhi) to Rs 107 (Hydarabad), while diesel prices fall between Rs 87 per litre and Rs 96 per litre.
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