IOC chief talks of fuel rationing

NEW DELHI: Oil major Indian Oil Corporation on Wednesday warned of fuel rationing even as it said it was restricting petrol and diesel sales to what was domestically available.

IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria said the company is losing Rs300 crore a day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and would run out of cash to even import crude oil by September-end if fuel prices were not raised or duties cut.

He said there were already a long queues in South India for diesel and there was restrictions on sale of LPG cylinders.

Behuria said the chaotic situation could be aborted only if an early decision was taken on the petroleum price hike and the oil marketing companies were bailed out from the huge under-recoveries they were incurring.

He said IOC, a Fortune 500 Company with the largest refinery in the public sector, would be able to buy crude at the current prices in the global markets only till September. He said his company could ill afford to buy imported crude and was thus relying on domestic supplies alone. Behuria said IOC has “taken a call’’ to restrict sales to a reasonable level, indicating some form of rationing of these products.

 “Obviously, we are not going to import at a loss,’’ he said.

 Crude was at over $130 a barrel in the international market and the company was losing Rs16.34/litre of petrol, Rs23.49 on diesel, Rs28.72 on kerosene, Rs305.9 on LPG.