BPCL reported a decent operational performance for the September quarter. Earnings were driven by strengths in the refining as well as marketing segments. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, N Vijayagopal, Director-Finance of BPCL said that the oil industry is back to pre COVID-levels but cracks have been under pressure.

“If the cracks level remains at the same level, it is unlikely that we will be able to repeat the same performance on refining in Q3,” he said.

Vijayagopal further added that marketing margins have returned to normal in Q2. On capex, he said, “We have had a plan of spending about Rs 8,000 crore of capex. We are trying to slightly increase it, but no significant increase is possible. However, we are hopeful that about 10 percent increase should be possible as we close the year.”

He also said that BPCL will increase presence in the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure once demand picks up. On BPCL divestment, he believes that closing the divestment before March 31 2021 is very ambitious.

(Edited by : Santosh Nair)