Oil Marketing Company Shares Fall As Crude Prices Hit 3-Month High Amid Middle East Tensions

On Friday, stocks of Indian oil marketing companies declined as oil prices in the global markets hit 3-month high after a US strike killed key Iranian and Iraqi military personnel. Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in an early morning strike on Friday on their convoy at Baghdad airport.

The Pentagon confirmed that the US Forces had carried out the attack "at the direction of the president."

After the news broke, Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, called the move "extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation," while US President Donald Trump tweeted an image of the American flag.

Brent futures, an international benchmark for crude oil prices, jumped 4 percent or $3 to hit a high of $69.19 a barrel.

The escalation in tensions between the US and Middle-East elevates supply risk, causing a surge in oil prices.

Shares of state-run oil marketers BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil decline by 0.5 to 2 percent after the news broke.

Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) fell to an intraday low of Rs 472.85, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to Rs 261.50 and Indian Oil Corp Ltd to Rs 126.15.

On the other hand, shares of ONGC rose as much as 4.2 percent to Rs 133.40 apiece after international brokerage firm Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the stock from 'Neutral' to 'Buy.' However, it cut its price target to Rs 175 from Rs 220.