Oil retailers are having their moment in the sun today, what with Brent crude slipping to a month low yesterday at $77/barrel.

The oil prices fell after Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the world’s biggest oil exporter will meet any shortfall in supply as a result of Iranian crude sanctions, which kick in on 4th Nov. Al-Falih said that Saudi Arabia may boost its oil output by between 1 and 2 million barrels a day in the future.

Along with this increased supply from Saudi, there is news that US crude inventories could have gone for the fifth time in a row this week – the report is due today late evening.  Thus presently there is calm on the crude oil front and this is reflected in the stock price of the oil marketing companies (OMCs) – HPCL, BPCL and Indian Oil Corp (IOC).

HPCL is up today over 5% at Rs.228.60; BPCL went up over 5.5% at Rs.284.05 and IOC also went up over 4.5% to Rs.135.95.