NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp, the country's top fuel retailer, is suffering a revenue loss of 617 rupees ($6.39) on the sale of a cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) compared to 171 rupees in April after the Iran war pushed up the prices, its finance chief said on Tuesday.
In January-March, the company suffered a revenue loss of 100 rupees for the sale of a 14.2-kilogram cylinder of LPG, mainly used as a cooking fuel, Anuj Jain told an analysts' call.
Indian state-run fuel retailers sell LPG for households at discounted rates.
India, the world's second-largest LPG importer, is grappling with its worst gas crisis in decades, with the government cutting supplies to industry to protect household cooking fuel needs.
In 2025, India consumed 33.15 million tons of LPG. Imports accounted for about 60% of demand, with 90% of those supplies coming from the Middle East.
Supplies of LPG from the Middle East have been disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The closure of the Hormuz Strait has prompted Indian Oil (IOC) to diversify its sourcing of crude, LPG and liquefied natural gas to meet local demand.
"Our priority is to ensure the energy security... Because of this disruption, we have diversified our crude sourcing and LPG sourcing. We have changed our refinery diet," Jain said, adding that IOC is operating its refineries at full capacity.
The company has about a month's crude inventory, he said.
IOC recently bought LNG from Oman, Nigeria, Angola and Indonesia after major suppliers in the Middle East declared force majeure, he said.
By the end of the year, IOC hopes to expand its Panipat refinery to 500,000 barrels per day, its Gujarat refinery to 360,000 bpd, and its Barauni plant to 180,000 bpd, Jain said.
($1 = 96.5325 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Susan Fenton
Source: Reuters