Oil marketing companies have seen their losses narrow in the September quarter amid a dip in crude prices and the full impact of retail fuel price hikes. ATF margins have also improved while LPG under-recoveries narrowed — even as diesel sales continued to remain a loss-maker during the quarter. But the respite may be short-lived as global stockpiles fall rapidly and the US Energy Information Administration hikes its oil price forecast. “Although we assume that oil flows from the Middle East will remain constrained through the fourth quarter of 2026, we estimate that regional shut-in production in September was the lowest since the onset of hostilities,” the EIA said in its monthly report.