Jan 21 (Reuters) - Indian state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) (HPCL.NS) , opens new tab reported a jump in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, supported by higher refining margins as crude prices dropped.

The Mumbai-based firm's standalone net profit rose 34.7% to 40.72 billion rupees ($444.5 million) in the three months ended December 31.

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HPCL's quarterly gross refining margin - the profit from making refined products from one barrel of oil - improved to $8.85 per barrel from $6.01 reported a year ago.

For further results highlights, (nFWN3YM0ZJ)

KEY CONTEXT

Global Brent crude oil prices - used by refiners as a raw material - dropped more than 9% in the October-December quarter, pushing up margins.

Additionally, fuel consumption in India, the world's third-largest consumer and importer of oil, also hit a record high in December following a six-month peak in November.

Consumption rose 5.5% and 5.3% year-on-year in November and December, respectively, after a 0.4% drop in October, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

PEER COMPARISON

* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

OCTOBER-DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 91.6150 rupees

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-refiner-hpcls-quarterly-profit-jumps-lower-crude-prices-2026-01-21/