EL7.AI
StocksMedium•23 October 2026•
2 min read

Brent jumps 4% to $113.14 as oil costs weigh on HPCL expenses

Key Facts

1Brent futures for December delivery jumped 4% to $113.14 a barrel during the session on 22 October 2026.
2HPCL's total expenses rose 25.9% to 1.33 trillion rupees in the quarter ended September 2026.
3HPCL's average gross refining margin improved to $27.89 a barrel during April–September 2026, compared with $5.95 a year earlier.
4The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast spot Brent prices would average $105 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Brent crude futures for December delivery jumped 4% to $113.14 a barrel during trading on 22 October 2026, according to Investing.com, amid Middle East tensions and concerns over supply disruptions. The contracts reached their highest levels since early May, with concerns extending to oil industry facilities in the region. The same day, Reuters reported that Aramco had asked employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran on the Gulf. The agency said the company "asked employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran," with the reason for the evacuation unclear. These developments coincided with the impact of crude costs showing up in India's HPCL results, as fuel marketing margins came under pressure while refining benefited from inventory gains.

HPCL's standalone net profit totalled 34.83 billion Indian rupees in the quarter ended September 2026, according to a Reuters report published by Moneycontrol. The company's total expenses rose 25.9% from a year earlier to 1.33 trillion rupees during the quarter, as crude costs weighed on its fuel marketing business. Tax expenses also totalled about 32.85 billion rupees in the same period, among the burdens reflected in the company's quarterly results. In refining, the average gross refining margin improved to $27.89 a barrel during April–September 2026, compared with $5.95 a barrel in the corresponding period of 2025. Reuters attributed the improvement to gains on lower-cost crude inventories, which supported realised refining margins during that period. The company's results thus combined pressure on marketing margins with refining margins benefiting from inventories, as total expenses rose year on year.

On the U.S. response, President Donald Trump invoked part of the Defense Production Act on 22 October, allowing financial incentives for oil-related activities, according to Reuters. The incentives cover pipelines and liquid fuel storage, alongside oil activities, as part of the U.S. administration's move. But Investing.com warned in its accompanying report that new investment in oil projects was unlikely to increase supply in the near term. The report said "any new investment in new oil projects is unlikely to lead to an increase in supply in the near term." In its outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected in its October report that spot Brent crude prices would average $105 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026. The agency said: "We expect spot Brent crude prices to average $105 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026."