Moody’s assigns Baa3 issuer rating to BPCL

International rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a Baa3 issuer rating to Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). The rating agency has also assigned a provisional (P) Baa3 senior unsecured foreign currency debt rating to the proposed USD notes to be issued by the company. The ratings outlook is stable. This is the first time that Moody’s has assigned a rating to BPCL.

The company has received the said rating on the back of its position as the country’s third-largest refiner of crude oil and the second-largest distributor of petroleum products. Moreover, the rating is also backed by the company’s relatively successful investments in upstream oil and gas assets, which provide longer term earnings potential.