India refiners enjoying a boom from oil price slump

New Delhi

THE slump in crude oil prices has almost doubled the value of India's big, state-owned refiners, outpacing the rest of the industry from China to the US

The companies had been forced to make a large proportion of sales at below cost for more than a decade. Now, they can profit from fuels after India's new government saw its opportunity in falling oil prices to deregulate the market without bothering its inflation targets. Opec's decision to sit on its hands in the face of an oil glut has only accelerated share gains.

The shares of India's big three state refiners - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum - are up 53 per cent, 84 per cent and 131 per cent respectively over the year to Dec 24. Hindustan Petroleum is the best performing oil stock in…