Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,243.55 crore for in July-September quarter of FY24 as compared to a loss of Rs 338.49 crore in the same period a year back, the company said in a statement.

The profit was aided by a boost in marketing margins as a freeze on petrol and diesel price revision despite a fall in input crude oil prices helped recover losses incurred when rates were high last year. Pre-tax earnings from the downstream oil refining and marketing business came at Rs 11,283.29 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal as compared to a loss of Rs 123.17 crore in the same period last year.  

Last year, state-owned fuel retailers BPCL, Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) froze prices despite a spike in global oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was with a view to insulate consumers from price volatility.

The price freeze led to the three firms incurring losses in the first half of 2022-23 fiscal year (April 2022 to March 2023). BPCL incurred a loss of Rs 6,486.43 crore in April-September 2022. This year, it however posted record earnings of Rs 18,887.85 crore in April-September 2023.