Three state-owned oil marketing companies earned 39% of their total FY26 profit in the September quarter. Their combined net profit jumped 68.3% to Rs 30,106 crore, as strong refining earnings helped them recover. IOC led this growth, though executives said the October-December quarter could be tougher for these oil firms.
Three state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) earned nearly 39% of their entire FY26 profit in the September quarter alone, with combined standalone net profit jumping 68.3% year-on-year to Rs 30,106 crore, as stronger refining earnings drove a sharp recovery despite continued pressure on retail fuel sales.
The July-September earnings were equivalent to nearly 39% of the Rs 77,281-crore combined profit reported by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for the whole of FY26. The turnaround was particularly significant as these firms had together reported a loss of Rs 18,150 crore in the year-ago period.
However, OMC executives have cautioned that the October-December quarter could be tougher, raising concerns over the sustainability of the recovery.
IOC led the earnings rebound, accounting for nearly 72% of the combined quarterly profit. The country's largest refiner reported its highest-ever quarterly standalone net profit of Rs 21,630 crore, nearly three times the Rs 7,610 crore recorded a year earlier. It had posted a loss of Rs 2,661 crore in the June quarter.
The company attributed its strong performance to favourable crude oil price movements and improved profitability in its petrochemical and gas businesses.
"The current quarter's profitability was largely driven by temporary decline in crude oil prices from mid-June to mid-August and robust margin from petrochemical and gas," IOC said in its earnings statement.
However, IOC warned that profitability in the coming quarters could be affected by inventory losses if crude oil prices decline following normalisation of the situation in West Asia.
The improvement came despite pressure on petrol and diesel sales and an accumulated negative LPG pricing buffer of Rs 32,505.69 crore as of September 30. IOC recognised Rs 7,243 crore in government compensation for domestic LPG under-recoveries during the first half of FY27.
Unlike IOC, BPCL and HPCL reported lower profits compared with a year earlier, although both returned to profitability after suffering substantial losses in the preceding quarter.
BPCL's standalone net profit declined 22.5% to Rs 4,993 crore from Rs 6,443 crore a year earlier. However, it reversed a loss of Rs 3,962 crore reported in April-June.
HPCL reported a standalone net profit of Rs 3,483 crore, down 9.1% from Rs 3,830 crore a year earlier, recovering from a loss of around Rs 11,526 crore in the preceding quarter.
The recovery was supported by stronger refining margins. HPCL's gross refining margin (GRM), a measure of returns from processing crude oil into petroleum products, surged to $32.15 per barrel from $8.80 a barrel in the corresponding quarter last year. IOC, however, did not disclose its refining margin for the quarter.
The three companies' combined revenue from operations increased nearly 29% to Rs 5.60 lakh crore from Rs 4.35 lakh crore a year earlier.
IOC's quarterly revenue rose to Rs 2.63 lakh crore from Rs 2.03 lakh crore, while BPCL's increased to Rs 1.58 lakh crore from Rs 1.22 lakh crore. HPCL reported revenue of Rs 1.39 lakh crore, compared with Rs 1.10 lakh crore a year earlier.
Despite the strong September-quarter performance, the combined standalone net profit of the three companies stood at Rs 11,956 crore for the first half of FY27, reflecting the impact of heavy losses during April-June.