IOC slips into loss in Q1 on holding fuel prices despite rise in cost

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Friday reported a lower-than-expected loss of Rs 2,661.37 crore in the June quarter as efficiency gains helped limit losses arising from holding fuel prices despite a rise in cost.

Standalone net loss was Rs 2,661.37 crore in April-June - the first quarter of current 2026-27 fiscal year - against a profit of Rs 5,688.60 crore a year back and earnings of Rs 11,377.51 crore in the preceding three months (January-March).

IOC, just like other state-owned fuel retailers, kept petrol, diesel and cooking gas LPG prices low despite a surge in cost after the outbreak of the West Asia conflict. Most of these losses were set off against a rise in refinery margins and efficiency gains, chairman A S Sahney told reporters here.

"We had the highest-ever first quarter crude throughput of 19.165 million tonnes. Also, we had the lowest-ever quarterly fuel and loss of 8.04 per cent (compared to 8.5 per cent previously)," he said, adding that the highest-ever quarterly sales of petrol (4.5 million tonnes) and diesel (10.866 million tonnes) as well as an increase in natural gas sales volume by 11 per cent also helped.

"My operational efficiency has benefited us," he said.

Revenue from operations rose 26 per cent to Rs 2.75 lakh crore.

While the West Asia conflict disrupted supplies of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) from primary sources in the Middle East, the company tapped alternate sources in West Africa and South America to make up for the deficit.

IOC, the country's largest oil company, has tied up crude oil supplies for all of August and most of September, he said. "Crude has never been a problem... we are covered for the next 45-50 days..

Russian crude, which IOC and other refiners started gorging on after it became available at a discount following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now makes up for about 48 per cent of all crude oil processed by IOC's refineries, he said, adding IOC was also buying from countries like Brazil and Venezuela to make up for the shortfall from traditional suppliers in the Middle East.

On LPG, a commodity which was the most disrupted, he said the company is buying product from newer geographies and countries such as Algeria and Azerbaijan.