Oil refiners have seen their margins go through a wringer in the past month. Suddenly, all the grand visions of big buck profits — an illusion that the Centre tried to squeeze some money out of the refiners through a windfall gains tax that was eventually withdrawn — have crumbled to dust.

Data show that Asian refining margins have crashed to just 88 cents a barrel over Dubai crude from a record $30.49 in June. According to Refinitv data, Asian gasoline margins plunged more than 102 per cent in July to a discount of 14 cents a barrel to Brent crude compared with a premium of$38.05 a barrel in June. This is a far cry from the situation that prevailed just a few months ago.

For months, refiners have been enjoying historically high margins, with the profit from making a barrel of gas oil, the building block of diesel and jet kerosene, hitting a record $68.69 in June. The margin later settled in the high 30sa few weeks later, a level still nearly four times higher than the $11.83 at the end of last year. An analyst from a foreign brokerage said that if the trend continues, it could depress the earnings of companies such as Reliance and MRPL apart from the PSU oil marketing companies. “The GRMs are likely to remain soft till clarity emerges on global demand’’. At an earnings call, RIL joint CFO V. Srikanth had warned about the risks of recession. RIL does not separately disclose its GRMs.