Indian Oil's 4Q Profit Up

Indian Oil Corporation May 22 said its net profit in January-March (4Q 2018) was rupees 52.18bn ($770mn), up 40% year on year, thanks to higher refining margins.

Net profit for April 2017-March 2018 was rupees 213.46bn compared with rupees 191.06bn. The company sold nearly 89mn metric tons of products last year while refining throughput for the year was 69mn mt.

Indian Oil’s gas business grew by 2% last year to 3.9mn mt. This includes gas consumption for internal use, it said. The company said due diligence is underway to acquire equity stakes in LNG terminals coming up at Dhamra and Mundra. Indian Oil is collaborating with fleet owners and auto manufacturers such as Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles and Mahindra & Mahindra to promote the use of LNG as transportation fuel. 

Indian Oil, through its joint venture Indian Oil LNG, is setting up a 5mn mt/yr LNG terminal at Kamarajar Port in Ennore in Tamil Nadu that is to be commissioned soon. Indian Oil is also developing natural gas pipelines through joint venture companies which include a 1,500-km natural gas pipeline grid in the northeast India to connect Guwahati to major cities in the region, such as Itanagar, Numaligarh, Dimapu, Imphal, Aizwal, Agartala, Shillong, Silchar and Gangtok.

Indian Oil offers natural gas as auto fuel through its city gas distribution network in cities including Lucknow, Agra, Allahabad, Chandigarh, Panipat, Daman, Ernakulam, Udham Singh Nagar, Dharwad, South Goa, Bulandshahr, Daman and Panipat. Indian Oil operates city gas distribution (CGD) networks in nine geographical areas through two joint ventures: Green Gas and IndianOil-Adani Gas.

Last year, Indian Oil commissioned CNG facilities at 100 fuel stations, the highest-ever number, giving it a 3.29% increase in market share.