[adimicra]

Originally Posted by RSR

I don't know about Essar, but Shell (in India) is purely a marketing company. They don't have any kind of upstream business, nor do they do any refining themselves.


From what I've seen, people go to Shell pumps mainly because of 2 reasons:

1) Assured quality and quantity. U

Shell also gives its retailers a better margin on every litre of fuel sold. So they have less reason to indulge in malpractices themselves (adulteration and/or tampering with the meters).



2) Neat facilities and good service.

(The above holds good only for Shell and not for Reliance, Essar etc.)

I'm sorry to say this, but this has got nothing to do with bashing the public sector and praising the private sector. Let's face it - Shell thrives on free market principles, while the PSU OMCs are typical outdated relics of the nasty commie-inspired license raj crap that the country was cursed with for decades, due to the (characteristically Third World) economic policy of trying to imitate the murderous totalitarian Second World commie failures (like the defunct Soviet empire & its underlings) and bashing the free market economic ideology of the civilised First World.

Sir, with due respect, though your reply is very valid and logical it is nowhere related to the point I was making.

People might have their reasons to choose Shell over PSU bunks and it is their prerogative. I have myself tried Shell and I have never got any perceived benefits in terms of mileage or refinement etc. In fact, I got best results from Essar. So, I stick to it. Others' experience may be different. But my own thought is that if you get a honest PSU bunk, there is hardly any benefit using Shell. AFAIK, Essar has their own refinery.

But, all this argument is different from the point I was making.

In this thread, there are several comments which blame the Govt and PSUs for not reducing the petrol prices quickly enough while they are very quick to increase the prices. My point is and was this - yes, I agree. But why the private players are not able to reduce the prices earlier than the PSU's? What stops them? Aren't they supposed to be more efficient and transparent? They also do not have the extra baggage of the Govt and other associated complications which hampers the decision making process. Yes, the PSUs and GOvt are at fault but so are the private players like Shell and Essar.

[saurabhkum]

In the current scenario if we talk from June 2014 to October 2014 the Brent Crude has dropped from 113$ to 91$ that's a huge 19% drop. If we take Rupee to Dollar Conversion into account Dollar has moved from 59.18 to 61.04 Rs during the same period which means an increase of 3%. With such movement the petrol prices should have been dropped by more than 16% which means Petrol which was sold at 80 Rs in Mumbai in June should cost not more than 67 Rs in current scenario. But our Oil Ministry and Govt has decided otherwise. On one occasion it was mentioned that Petroleum Minister is out of Country and on other PM is out of country and now the latest EC code of conduct. How does Code of Conduct stops someone from changing the prices when Petrol Prices are supposed to be in deregulated zone and as far as Diesel Prices go they where increased 50 paise per month in order to end the subsidy burden. Now if there is no subsidy and it is making cash profit then what stops them from reducing the price.

[saket77]

Prices to come down after Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections on October 15.

Source:http://zeenews.india.com/business/ne...ns_109678.html

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by saket77

Prices to come down after Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections on October 15.

Source:http://zeenews.india.com/business/ne...ns_109678.html

I have seen on a regional news channel today that the prices of petrol and diesel will be cheaper by 1 rs and 2.50 rs respectively as the Oil in the internationl market became more cheaper. But the DECISION will be taken only after the elections.

[sgiitk]

Now Brent is well under $89 so the drop should be far bigger, in one phase or more only time will tell. Also, given extreme stock market volatility Brent may climb again.

[napster1311]

I have friends who work with BPCL and IOCL. The kind of remunerations they receive above their salaries Qtr after Qtr every year, have always made me think, where the hell in this world these companies find money for such perks when they are booking so called under recovery losses.

I don't have any bad feelings with OMC's employees getting big perks. But OMC's crying for losses is beyond my understanding.

And the expected cut for Diesel and Petrol will again be shown as a mercy/charity done by GOI and OMCs.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Now Brent is well under $89 so the drop should be far bigger, in one phase or more only time will tell. Also, given extreme stock market volatility Brent may climb again.

you mean 65 paisa instead of the standard 50 paisa drop.

[khoj]

LOL, The salaries at the refineries are pegged against the international benchmark taking into account the remunerations prevalent in refineries around the globe.

If it make you feel any better, these guys do not get paid as much as those in the oil extraction business. The refiners are mere courtesans in front of the princelings at companies like ONGC etc.

A few moons back i had posted the costs incurred in extracting crude onshore & offshore. Even at current barrel prices those costs are a pittance and leave ample room for these companies to make money.

Originally Posted by napster1311

I have friends who work with BPCL and IOCL. The kind of remunerations they receive above their salaries Qtr after Qtr every year, have always made me think, where the hell in this world these companies find money for such perks when they are booking so called under recovery losses.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by lurker

you mean 65 paisa instead of the standard 50 paisa drop.

I an see the irony but 50p was INCREASE. I will be surprised if the total is not more like Rs.4 cut in two stages.

[i10]

Why should diesel go down more than petrol, in absolute as well as % terms?

[longhorn]

If crude is below 90$, I guess petrol price should be around the Rs 65 mark. I believe they are earning much more than what is made to believe.

[Chetan_Rao]

If fuel prices are really deregulated (at least petrol is 'claimed' to be), what have elections got to do with price corrections (upwards or downwards)?

This entire deregulation (pseudo-regulation) hogwash is ridiculous. Blame OMCs for price hikes, take credit for smaller than possible cuts (and pocket the difference via taxes), govt wins both ways. Why not leave it to the OMCs altogether and stay out of the equation?

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

If fuel prices are really deregulated (at least petrol is 'claimed' to be), what have elections got to do with price corrections (upwards or downwards)?

This entire deregulation (pseudo-regulation) hogwash is ridiculous. Blame OMCs for price hikes, take credit for smaller than possible cuts (and pocket the difference via taxes), govt wins both ways. Why not leave it to the OMCs altogether and stay out of the equation?

You are very right. They say petrol prices are deregualted. Then how come petrol prices are not dropping when international crude prices are? The OMC are pocketing the difference and so is Govt. through ad valorem taxes on it. About time OMCs are dragged to court over this one. This is loot of public money.

[hyper-VTEC]

Fuel Prices will see a sharp decline. Diesel may be reduced by 3 Rs. after elections.

Source: ToI

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Fuel Prices will see a sharp decline. Diesel may be reduced by 3 Rs. after elections.

Source: ToI

What's disturbing in that article is the fact that the govt might never consider proper de-regulation and will instead opt for periodic price checks. What was the whole point of the 50p increase then?

Anyway, I personally feel crude will rebound to much much higher levels - levels higher than 130$ and maybe even double current prices, in the next 6-month horizon. The reason I feel this way is that it looks like we're in a global recession and during every recession people flock to commodities such as gold, silver and oil (stock markets crash as a result of this flight of money).