New Delhi: Giving careful consideration to the rising crude oil costs, the administration has decided to issue oil bonds up to Rs 24,000 crore in the existing year (2007).

A top oil ministry functionary stated, “The decision in this regard would be taken before October 15 and the payment would be released by November 15.”

While addressing the mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar on biofuels, petroleum secretary M S Srinivasan said, “A joint exercise by the oil and finance ministries is on to estimate the losses of marketing companies on selling petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG. The whole exercise would take not more than 10 days in total.”

Srinivasan said, “We are expecting oil bonds of up to Rs 24,000 crore to compensate oil marketing companies (OMCs) this fiscal. The Government is most likely to issue oil bonds worth Rs 12,000 crore by October 15 before auditing is due. We are also apprising the Cabinet on the issue. Cabinet approval is required to issue oil bonds.”

An IndianOil official said, “In the present scenario, the oil marketing companies are losing Rs 3.35 per litre on petrol, Rs 5.75 per litre on diesel, Rs 14.90 per litre on kerosene and Rs 178.15 on sale of every domestic LPG cylinder.”

The increasing crude oil rates have augmented the losses of oil companies in the existing month.

He added that the projected losses on petrol and diesel were Rs 2.20 and Rs 4.40 per litre correspondingly.

The oil ministry has projected that the oil marketing companies, including IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum would miss around Rs 52,000 crore on sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG in the existing financial.

The oil companies missed Rs 12,900 crore, comprising Rs 6,700 on sale of domestic LPG and kerosene and Rs 6,200 crore on petrol and diesel sale in the first quarter of the recent fiscal.

The authorities had issued oil bonds valued at Rs 24,121 crore to the oil companies in order to pay off for half the loss on sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG.