![\"Fuel](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131365178,imgsize-57338,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/representative-image.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn recent days, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by around Rs 7.5 per litre, increasing daily costs for consumers. This has once again sparked a familiar debate, are oil marketing companies (OMCs) making windfall gains amid the Middle East crisis?At the centre of this discussion is a headline number, a combined profit of Rs 77,821 crore in FY 2025\u201326. It sounds huge, but the reality is more complex. Once you factor in margins, total turnover, past losses, and global oil price swings, the picture is not as simple as profit or loss. The government had already reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre on 27 March. Earlier this week, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman<\/a> said that reducing excise duties on petrol and diesel would lead to a revenue loss of around Rs 1 lakh crore. “The government is estimated to take a revenue impact of over Rs one lakh crore in 2026 after the central excise duty cut on petrol & diesel,” the FM stated. Since the onset of the crisis retail fuel prices in India have risen by around 8\u20139%, well below the 20\u201367% increase seen across neighbouring economies. In Nepal, petrol is priced at Rs 136.47 per litre and diesel at Rs 141.50 per litre, while in Pakistan petrol is priced at Rs 139.17 per litre and diesel at Rs 138.82 per litre.<\/p>\n Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said that OMCs were losing nearly Rs 1,000 crore a day. But after four rounds of fuel price hikes, the question is whether their financial situation has actually improved. “If you look at the fiscal situation, if you look at the fact that my oil companies are losing Rs 1,000 crores every day, the under recovery is going to be Rs 1,98,000 crores. The losses are Rs 1 lakh crore, if you look at the quarter. In that context, how long can you keep it like this? Where is the oil? It used to be around $64 or $65. It has gone up to $115 in that basket,” minister Puri said.Even after OMCs reported Rs 77,821 crore profit for FY26, most of the impact from the Middle East crisis is not yet fully visible in current earnings. It is expected to show up in Q1 FY 2026\u201327 results.Another key point is timing. Indian OMCs were operating on 50\u201360 days of crude inventory that had already been bought at pre-crisis prices. So FY 2025\u201326 profits largely reflect cheaper, earlier crude purchases.The impact of higher crude prices will start appearing only when newer, costlier crude enters the system, mainly from late March onwards. This means the real pressure is likely to show up in Q1 FY 2026\u201327 results, which will be released in August 2026.Because of this lag, the current profit figures do not fully capture the crisis impact. In fact, if crude prices stay high, OMCs could see stress in the coming quarters, even higher than the current profit pool.<\/p>\nHuge profits amid crisis \u2014 Are OMCs benefiting?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Understanding \u2018super normal profits\u2019 for OMCs<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n