The politics of oil: The private sector has learnt its lesson, this time permanently – 18 May 2022

It is stop and go with diesel and petrol prices. Retail prices are currently well below international prices

And this is exactly the reason that the private sector push in retail has stopped, and this time around both the big players, Nayara and RIL-BP, have learned their lessons. They are unlikely to be enthusiastic about a retail expansion anymore, not when it comes to selling petrol and diesel. This had happened before, and there is now guaranteed that it would happen again.

Further, the privatization of BPCL is now out exactly because no owner would like to be under such stress, waiting for a political go-ahead before prices can be hiked (for unless the OMCs raise prices, private retailers cannot).

Find out what is the gap now, after the OMCs undertook 14 quick-succession price hikes, and then stopped after instructions from their political masters.

Also, know more on how despite the gap between international crude price and domestic prices, oil companies are not losing money. Why is that so?