Crude calculation

In his first press conference as chairman of Indian Oil, R S Butola acknowledged that there are under-recoveries (the technical term for a revenue loss) on sales of petrol, a price-decontrolled product, because companies did not choose to pass on the entire burden of the increase in crude oil costs. How much? He steadfastly declined to say despite several attempts by reporters. “It is difficult for me to share the number for petrol,” he confessed and suggested that reporters work it out for themselves on the assumption that the current retail price would support a crude oil price of $100 a barrel. “I can give you the current price of the Indian basket of crude and you can work backward,” he added helpfully. He, however, had no problem sharing the numbers for three controlled products — diesel, kerosene and LPG.