Representative image. Ganesh Dhamodkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
BPCL and the other state-run oil companies have kept petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged for five months, which has protected household budgets during a period of high crude prices. These results show how much that is costing one of them, and the losses on LPG keep growing.
BPCL Q2 results: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), India’s second-largest state-run fuel retailer, made a standalone net profit of ₹4,993.17 crore in July to September 2026, down 22.5% from ₹6,442.53 crore a year earlier. The company, which reported on the evening of Friday, 23 October 2026, blamed weak marketing margins on petrol, diesel and cooking gas, which it has kept selling at frozen retail prices while crude costs rose.
The BPCL profit for the quarter still marks a turnaround from April to June, when BPCL lost ₹3,962.13 crore, the business channel CNBC-TV18 reported. Revenue from operations rose 29.8% to ₹1,57,778.58 crore, mainly because the oil it buys and the fuel it sells cost more.
BPCL Q2 results: three quarters side by side
| Standalone | Jul to Sep 2025 | Apr to Jun 2026 | Jul to Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net profit (₹ crore) | 6,442.53 | loss of 3,962.13 | 4,993.17 |
| Revenue (₹ crore) | 1,21,570.90 | not given | 1,57,778.58 |
| Refinery throughput (million tonnes) | 9.82 | 10.15 | 10.41 |
| Domestic sales (million tonnes) | 12.67 | 13.62 | 13.47 |
| Exports (million tonnes) | 0.36 | 0.51 | 0.59 |
On a consolidated basis, which adds BPCL’s subsidiaries and joint ventures, profit fell 21.5% to ₹4,863 crore from ₹6,191 crore, the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), a measure of operating profit, fell about 14% to ₹9,437 crore on a standalone basis, according to the company statement cited by PTI. CNBC-TV18 gave a different EBITDA figure, ₹8,971 crore, and said it was well above the ₹6,016 crore analysts in its poll had expected; profit also beat that poll’s ₹4,703 crore.
Why the fuel price freeze cut into the refiner’s earnings
BPCL earns money in two places: refining crude into fuel, and selling that fuel at its 25,300-plus pumps and through LPG distributors. This quarter the two pulled in opposite directions.
Refining did well. BPCL’s gross refining margin, what it earned for every barrel of crude it turned into fuel, was $32.53 against $10.78 a year earlier, PTI reported. Its refineries in Mumbai, Kochi and Bina ran at 118% of their rated capacity.
Selling was the problem. Retail fuel prices have not been revised for five months despite rising costs, PTI said. State-run oil companies have been selling petrol, diesel and LPG below market rates to shield consumers from price swings caused by the West Asia conflict, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. “The lower profit during April-September 2026 is mainly due to suppressed marketing margin on certain petroleum products which was partially offset by higher refining margin,” BPCL said in its stock exchange filing, as quoted by The Hindu BusinessLine. The company also booked a ₹330 crore loss on the value of fuel stocks and a ₹397 crore loss on currency movements.
What BPCL’s LPG losses add up to: our calculation
Cooking gas is where the gap is widest. BPCL’s cumulative LPG under-recoveries, the difference between what the cylinders cost it and what it is allowed to charge, stood at ₹17,334.40 crore on 30 September 2026, up from ₹12,318.52 crore on 31 March 2026, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.
By NewsPlainly’s calculation, that is ₹5,015.88 crore added in six months, or about ₹836 crore a month, from one company alone. Over the same six months, BPCL’s standalone profit was ₹1,031.04 crore, against ₹12,566.46 crore in April to September 2025, a fall of about 92%. The half-year figure is simply the first quarter’s loss of ₹3,962.13 crore plus the second quarter’s profit of ₹4,993.17 crore.
Put another way, the LPG under-recoveries that piled up between April and September was almost five times the profit BPCL made over those months. Whether the government will compensate oil companies for these under-recoveries was not stated in the results.
For readers, the fuel price freeze has kept pump and cylinder prices steady through a period of high crude prices. Our earlier report explains why Brent crude at $110 puts India’s petrol prices at risk.
BPCL’s Andhra refinery plan and the share price
Alongside the BPCL Q2 results, the company said it has set up a wholly owned subsidiary to run its proposed 10 million tonne a year refinery and petrochemical complex at Ramayapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, with initial authorised share capital of up to ₹4,900 crore. Detailed feasibility reports are still being finalised, and the final investment decision will be taken separately, the company said, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. It gave no total cost or construction timeline.
Among other updates, BPCL said it commissioned its first LPG bottling plant in the Northeast, at Matia in Assam’s Goalpara district, and connected 1.22 lakh new homes to piped natural gas in six months.
BPCL shares closed at ₹281.95 on 23 October, down 1.74% for the day, before the results came out. The stock has fallen 26.58% so far in 2026, CNBC-TV18 reported. Markets reopen on Monday, 26 October, the first session after the results.
Frequently asked questions
How much profit did BPCL make in Q2 FY27?
₹4,993.17 crore on a standalone basis, down 22.5% from ₹6,442.53 crore a year earlier. Consolidated profit was ₹4,863 crore.
Why did BPCL's profit fall?
The company said marketing margins on some petroleum products were suppressed, as retail prices stayed frozen while costs rose. Higher refining margins made up part of the gap.
What are LPG under-recoveries?
The gap between what LPG cylinders cost BPCL and the price it is allowed to charge. Its cumulative total was ₹17,334.40 crore on 30 September 2026.