Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has clarified that it is buying Russian crude oil strictly from non-sanctioned entities, according to an ET Now post on X today, May 20. BPCL further said that under-recovery on retail fuel products remains a short-term challenge.

The company clarified that there is no shortage of retail fuels and no stoppage of credit to dealers. It added that it is unable to maintain crude inventory beyond 30 days. BPCL also stated that it is buying Russian oil only from non-sanctioned entities, as stated above.

BPCL Q4 results

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Tuesday reported a flat net profit in the quarter ended March 31 after it took an impairment loss of Rs 4,349 crore on its upstream assets.

Net profit of Rs 3,191.49 crore in January-March - the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year - compared with Rs 3,214.06 crore earnings in the same period a year back and Rs 7,545.27 crore profit of the preceding quarter, according to a stock exchange filing of BPCL.

The flat year-on-year growth came after it took an impairment on the investment its subsidiary has made in oil and gas blocks globally and in India.

"During FY 2025-26, (BPCL's wholly-owned upstream subsidiary) Bharat PetroResources Ltd has impaired investments due to a change in prospects of its blocks," it said.

Accordingly, "an impairment loss of Rs 4,349.13 crore has been recognised based on the value of in-use assets as on March 31, 2026."

The gross carrying value of upstream investment has come down from Rs 15,426.37 crore to Rs 11,313.83 crore.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, BPCL's net profit soared 75 per cent to Rs 23,303.22 crore from Rs 13,275.26 crore in the previous FY25.

The quarterly profit came despite the company suffering huge losses on selling petrol, diesel, and cooking gas LPG below cost in March, as it, along with other state-owned fuel retailers, insulated the domestic market from volatility that hit the international market after the start of the West Asia conflict.

The full impact of the ongoing war-driven disruption in global energy markets will be visible in the June quarter.

Also, the company had an under-recovery of Rs 12,318.52 crore in FY26 on selling domestic cooking gas LPG below cost. This has to be made good by the government by way of subsidy, but no timelines for the payout have been intimated.

Revenue from operations came in at Rs 1.34 lakh crore in Q4 and Rs 5.22 lakh crore in FY26.

BPCL's refineries processed slightly lower crude oil into fuels in Q4 at 10.4 million tonne as compared to 10.58 million tonne a year back, the filing showed. Fuel sales rose to 13.86 million tonnes from 13.42 million tonnes in January-March 2025.

In FY26, refinery throughput increased to 41.15 million tonnes from 40.51 million tonnes in the previous year. Fuel sales rose to 54.18 million tonnes from 52.40 million tonnes in FY25.