Negative growth in diesel sales is a cause for concern: BPCL Director Finance

What does the September quarter financial results indicate about the state of play in the oil marketing business?

The Q2 performance of refineries in India and globally is affected generally by the crack spreads of diesel and motor spirit (MS).

If you compare the crack spreads of diesel and MS to the corresponding period last year, diesel has gone up by $1 to a barrel and MS has come down by $2 to a barrel. These are the products which gives us money. So, MS cracks coming down by $2 and diesel going up by $1 effectively evens it out because we make 20-22 per cent from MS and 45-48 per cent from diesel. Therefore, generally, our margins should have been at the same levels if all the other factors remained the same.