Jet fuel prices cut by 4 per cent

Public sector oil marketing companies, after a raising prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by 3.3 per cent last fortnight, today announced a 4.0 per cent reduction in prices, bringing them to April 2005 levels.

Jet fuel (ATF) price in Delhi will be Rs30,288 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight. In Mumbai, the rates would be down Rs1,301 at Rs31,176 per kl, Indian Oil sources said.

Oil marketing companies have been continuously reducing jet fuel prices since 1 September 2008. Prices have been reduced for nine consecutive times, except for the last fortnight.

ATF prices are down more than 50 per cent from the peak of Rs71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August in the wake of an all-time high crude oil price of $147 a barrel in mid-July.

Public sector oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum – revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the previous fortnight.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest oil firm, meanwhile, reported a 41.5 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs2,958.59 crore in the third quarter ended 31 December 2008.

Net profit in the three months was better than Rs2,090.69 crore net income in the third quarter of 2007-08 fiscal, a company statement said.

Net sales improved to Rs61,285.67 crore in October- December from Rs58,960.05 crore a year ago. However, the company reported a net loss of Rs3,673.41 crore in first nine months of current fiscal mainly due to the Q2 losses.