HPCL pushes for Rs. 1.82 per litre petrol hike

State-owned oil companies are pressing for a Rs. 1.82 per litre increase in petrol prices; it would be the fourth this year. Petrol prices were hiked by Rs. 3.14 per litre in September.Oil marketing firm Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has cited the depreciation of the rupee and the hardening of crude oil prices as the reason oil companies want to hike prices. “From today, there are some losses on petrol. To cover them, we may have to increase prices," HPCL Director (Finance) B Mukherjee said.Mr Mukherjee said crude oil was hovering at around $108 per barrel in international markets and the rupee has depreciated from Rs. 46.50 a dollar three months ago to over Rs. 49 per dollar now, increasing the cost of oil imports. The loss on petrol currently, he said, was Rs. 1.50 per litre and after factoring in local levies, the companies would want need a Rs. 1.82 per litre increase in petrol prices."We are in discussion with other oil companies on raising prices. Let's say, we are toying with the idea," Mr Mukherjee said, refusing to say when the fuel prices were likely to be raised.Since January 2011, the price of petrol has been raised thrice. Oil companies first hiked petrol prices by Rs. 3.5 per litre on January 16, 2011, and then again on May 15 by Rs. 5 per litre.While petrol prices were de-regulated last year, oil companies are cumulatively losing Rs. 300 crore everyday on diesel, LPG and kerosene oil, which are still under regulation. The companies have reported under-recoveries of Rs.64900 crore on these for the first half of FY’12. The last hike in prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene was on June 24, 2011.For the second quarter of this financial year, HPCL reported a loss of Rs.3365 crore, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) reported a loss of about Rs. 3,230 crore and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is expected to register a loss of about Rs.5000 crore.