Mumbai: Wary of being left behind in the race for renewables and electric vehicles, oil marketing companies are quietly drawing up plans to expand their modest presence in renewable energy space.

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, the largest of the three big oil marketers, is exploring opportunities for setting up battery charging stations and battery replacement facilities for electric vehicles in its petrol pumps. “We are also looking at opportunities for manufacturing and retailing lithium-ion batteries,” the company said in its annual report for 2016-17.

The refining glut is expected to worsen in the longer term, led by capacity expansion, rising distillate yields, increasing mileage per gallon, and growing use of greener fuels. However, refining margins have been strong at $8.3/bbl since July 2017 due to high unplanned shutdown, globally; we expect this to continue for a while. After a bit of a slowdown in FY17, consumption of both petrol and diesel has grown strongly at 8.3% and 4.5%, respectively in FY18YTD.

Shares of the state-run oil marketing companies IOC, BPCL and HPCL dived up to 2.8% after Moody’s Investors Service said that the state-owned fuel retailers have to increase borrowings. IOC, BPCL, and HPCL will have to go in for increased borrowings to sustain high dividend payments and capital spending this fiscal, keeping their credit metrics weak, Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday.

New Delhi: State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) will go in for increased borrowings to sustain high dividend payments and capital spending this fiscal, keeping their credit metrics weak, Moody’s Investors Service said on Tuesday.

The rating agency expected dividend payments by the three companies to drop modestly in 2017-18, but remain higher than in 2015-16. The government expects to receive Rs67,500 crore of dividends from all state-owned companies in 2017-18, less than Rs77,000 crore estimated to have been received in 2016-17, but more than double than Rs30,800 crore in 2015-16.

The government has formed an advisory panel that would decide the valuation for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) buying the 51 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), said its Chairman and Managing Director M K Surana.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is heading the three-member ministerial panel to oversee and expedite the sale of the government stake.

Shares of the IOC, BPCL, and HPCL tumbled on the news that government may ask the oil marketing companies to absorb further increase in global crude oil prices. The stock of the nation’s largest company Indian Oil Corporation fell as much as 6.2% to the day’s low of Rs 408; shares of another state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation plunged 8.4% to the day’s low of Rs 489. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation lost 8% to the day’s low of Rs 443.7.

NEW DELHI: Indraprastha Gas (IGL), Indian Oil-Adani Gas combine and Hindustan Petroleum-Oil India joint venture are set to win licences to distribute gas in one city each in the latest round of auction, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

In the much delayed 8th round city gas bidding, licences for gas distribution in Karnal, Haryana is set to go to IGL.

After years of dithering, composite liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottles are set to be tested in the Indian markets, with the state-run Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) getting the go-ahead from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Though attempts to test the fibre-made bottles, safer and lighter than the metallic cylinders in use, can be traced back to 2012, these haven’t hit the market yet due to the lack of requisite approvals from various agencies such as Indian Standards Institute. The relatively higher cost of the composite cylinders has also been hurdle. “The ministry has given permission to HPCL for testing the cylinders,” said a ministry official requesting anonymity.

Shares of PSU oil majors Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp jumped today after the giant exploration company’s board approved the acquisition of 51% equity stake in the refining and marketing firm from the government. ONGC shares rose as much as 1.6% to Rs 160.1 on BSE, while HPCL shares were trading up over 3.6% at Rs 450. Earlier yesterday, ONGC’s board of directors in a meeting held on 21 August 2017, gave an in-principle approval for acquisition of 51.11% equity stake of HPCL.

The government has tweaked the terms of sale of its 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL to ONGC by including phrases that will help avoid triggering an open offer, an official said.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had on July 19 granted 'in-principle' approval for strategic sale of the government's existing 51.11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) to Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) "along with the transfer of management control, which will result in HPCL becoming a subsidiary company of ONGC".