New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) expects its under-recovery on domestic LPG to rise to about Rs 309 per 14.2 kg cylinder in November and possibly Rs 370 in December, its Director (Finance) Anuj Jain said in a post-results analyst call on Saturday, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. The figure is the company's loss per cylinder from selling cooking gas below prevailing market rates — it is not, by itself, an announced change in the price households pay.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

"The Saudi CP has gone up to $756 per tonne. So as far as my under recovery is concerned, in September 2026 it was Rs 184 per cylinder, which went up to Rs 229 in October and going forward in the month of November, we see that it would be somewhere in the range of Rs 309 per cylinder. In December, it may go to Rs 370 per cylinder," Jain said, according to BusinessLine. Europe Says, reporting the same analyst call, also gave the same September-to-December figures.

Source: Europe Says

Rs 184Under-recovery per cylinder, September
Rs 229Per cylinder, October
Rs 309Per cylinder, November (expected)
Rs 370Per cylinder, December (may reach)

This follows IOCL's September-quarter results, reported earlier, in which the company disclosed a cumulative LPG under-recovery buffer of Rs 32,505.69 crore as of September 30, 2026. The other two public-sector oil marketing companies reported cumulative under-recoveries of Rs 17,334.40 crore for Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Rs 18,048.82 crore for Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), BusinessLine said.

Why the gap is widening

BusinessLine said the oil marketing companies are carrying large under-recoveries because they sell cooking fuel — used by more than 33 crore households — below prevailing market rates, while the international Saudi contract price for LPG has risen to $756 per tonne.

IOCL's September-quarter net profit more than doubled to around Rs 22,503 crore on a consolidated basis, helped by a temporary decline in crude prices from mid-June to mid-August and robust petrochemical and gas margins, the company said. It warned, however, that profitability in upcoming quarters may be adversely affected by inventory losses if crude prices fall as the situation in the Middle East normalises, BusinessLine reported.