State-run refiners could cut petrol prices from June

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State-fuel retailers could cut retail prices of petrol by about two rupees a litre from next month if global oil prices and the rupee stabilise at current levels, said S.Roy Choudhury, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

State-fuel retailers are slated to review retail petrol prices on May 31. Indian firms last week raised retail petrol prices by Rs 6.28 rupees a litre excluding taxes, translating to a hike of Rs 7.54 per litre at the retail level.

To soften the blow of the steep rise, many states including Delhi have reduced local taxes on the increased component, restricting the rise to Rs 6.28 a litre.

Separately, HPCL's head of marketing K. Murali said HPCL plans to import 264,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in 2012-13 as against 250,000 bpd in the last fiscal.

HPCL has reduced the size of its annual deal with Iran by about 15 percent to 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the current fiscal year and is looking at diversifying its crude import basket.

The company's board has approved signing its first-ever annual import deal with Azerbaijan's national oil company SOCAR to buy 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in this fiscal year, Murali said.

HPCL is currently paying in euros for Iran crude imports via Turkey's Halkbank (HALKB.IS), it head of finance B. Mukherjee said.

The state-run refiner operates a 166,000 bpd refinery at Vizag and a 130,000 bpd plant in Mumbai. It also has a stake in 180,000 bpd Bathinda refinery in Punjab.