Oil & gas stocks drop up to 15 pc as crude dives; BPCL biggest loser

Shares of oil and gas companies declined up to 15 per cent on Thursday with BPCL taking the biggest hit, as oil prices dropped nearly 6 per cent in global markets.

Amongst the BSE sectoral indices, BSE Oil and Gas index emerged as the biggest loser by shedding 1,118.43 points or 9.82 per cent to settle at 10,265.63.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd dived 14.71 per cent to Rs 345.15 on BSE.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation closed at Rs 183.85, plunging 12.83 per cent. Similarly, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd settled at Rs 62.6, declining 12.63 per cent.

Among other losers, Gail India Ltd dived 11.62 per cent to Rs 79.9, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd dropped 9.58 per cent to close at Rs 87.75.

Besides, Reliance Industries closed at Rs 1,061.6, losing 7.95 per cent. Indraprastha Gas Ltd fell 6.46 per cent to Rs 389.35.

Castrol India declined by 5.49 per cent to Rs 128.3 and Gujarat State Petronet Ltd ended the session at Rs 208.95, losing 4.57 per cent over the previous close.

Shares of Petronet LNG Ltd lost 2.69 per cent to close at Rs 215.3.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex plunged over 2,919 points to settle at 32,778.14 as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on global markets.

"The fall in global crude prices is bound to impact gross refining margin for most oil refining players. Starting from taking inventory hit, to revenue hit, to margin hit (loss of operating leverage), the overall Indian basket will take some time to align to global prices. Until then oil companies may take some beat down," Vinay Pandit, head of institutional equities at IndiaNivesh said.

On Thursday, oil prices plunged about six per cent after US President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on all travel from Europe to the United States over the coronavirus pandemic.

West Texas Intermediate slipped 6.2 per cent to USD 31 a barrel while Brent crude was off 5.8 per cent at under USD 34 a barrel.

Crude markets have been in turmoil since the start of the week, when they suffered their biggest one-day drop in a generation after Riyadh slashed prices following a row with Moscow about output cuts.