Crude prices are not fundamentally sustainable at the current levels, said M K Surana, chairman and managing director of HPCL.

The crude prices are fluctuating due to speculations and will shoot up because of the geo-political tensions, Surana said.

The oil marketing companies were slipping in trade with HPCL, BPCL and IOC losing more than 3% after the US withdrew from the Iran deal and the crude oil extended gains. HPCL and BPCL were the top Nifty losers on Wednesday.

HPCL was trading at a 3.57% loss while BPCL at a 3.52% loss. The IOC was trading at loss of nearly 3%.

Iran is the third largest OPEC producer and exports about 2.5 million barrels-per-day of crude.

First Published:May 9, 2018 11:52 AM IST