The BSE Oil & Ga sector is down in the red today, with all stocks in the index, except Reliance Industries, on a sharp decline. The falling index is led by GAIL, HPCL, Petronet, IGL, BPCL, IOC, Oil India ONGC.

The entire sector, especially the upstream oil marketing companies are down as crude oil prices are back on the rise. The price for Brent crude on Friday, rose 2.23% at $70.45/barrel, a new 52-week high.

Higher crude prices do not bode well for the Indian economy as a whole and on a micro level, for OMCs as it leads to a contraction in margins due as under recoveries go up, mainly for gas and kerosene; petrol and diesel now run on day-to-day market prices.