Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) on Friday reported a threefold increase in its March quarter net profit as the war in West Asia boosted refining margins.
Its consolidated net profit of ₹1,421.85 crore in January-March - the fourth and final quarter of the 2025-26 financial year - compared with ₹469.93 crore in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
CPCL, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which operates a 10.5 million tonnes a year oil refinery at Manali near Chennai, earned $9.28 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuels like petrol and diesel in the 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026) financial year, compared to a gross refining margin of $4.22 per barrel in the previous fiscal.
1 April 2026
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The company did not give a refining margin for the fourth quarter. However, in its previous earnings statement, it had stated that it made an average gross refining margin (GRM) of $7.72 per barrel in the first nine months (April-December) of the fiscal year.
Considering the two numbers, back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate the GRM in Q4 would have been around $14 per barrel.
International oil prices spiked by more than 50% following the February 28 US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation, which disrupted energy supplies from key Gulf producers.
The conflict led to a sharp widening of GRMs - the difference between the cost of crude and the value of refined products - to as high as $30 per barrel. However, as retail petrol and diesel prices in India were not revised in line with the surge in crude prices, oil marketing companies, including IOC, moved to cap the margins earned by standalone refiners, such as CPCL, to limit their losses on fuel sales.
CPCL reported almost flat revenue growth at ₹20,455.29 crore in Q4.
For the full 2025-26 fiscal, net profit soared to ₹4,162.47 crore compared to ₹248.66 crore in the previous financial year.
