Oil stocks in action on boiling crude prices

Brent crude futures jumped nearly $3 to hit a high of $69.16 a barrel, the highest since 17 September 2019.

Among public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 1.91%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.77%) and Indian Oil Corporation (down 0.39%) tumbled.

Higher crude oil prices could increase under-recoveries of PSU OMCs on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

Meanwhile, crude oil explorers, ONGC (up 2.07%) and Oil India (up 1.14%) advanced. Higher crude oil prices could increase realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2020 settlement was up $2.04 a barrel, or 3.18% at $68.29 per barrel.

The contract rose 25 cents or 0.37% to settle at $66 a barrel on Thursday, 2 January 2020.

Brent crude futures spurted on Friday after a US air strike killed key Iranian and Iraqi military personnel, raising concerns that escalating Middle East tensions may disrupt oil supplies.

India is heavily dependent on oil imports for satisfying its domestic demand. A high crude price directly maps into a high trade deficit and in turn a high current account deficit (CAD). Higher crude prices also leads to a spike in domestic inflation.

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