Astute management of working capital determines, to a very large extent, the overall success or failure of operations of a company. A study of the working capital is of major importance to internal and external analysts because of its close relationship to current day to day operations of a business. The inadequacy, or mismanagement, of working capital is one of the leading causes of the failures of the companies of the country. A working capital trend analysis indicates the changes which have taken place from time to time in the individual components of the working capital, like current assets and current liabilities, on the basis of any normal base year. The study has been conducted with the prime objective of analysing and interpreting the liquidity position of the selected petroleum refining companies in India. This analysis will provide a base of judging whether the practice and the prevailing policy of the management with regards to the working capital is appropriate or not or whether an important change is required to be made in managing the working capital funds. For this purpose, three leading companies have been selected. The study is based on the annual reports, accounts and other publications of the selected petroleum refining companies in India. The study period is nine years, from 2009-10 to 2017-18.

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Keywords: Trend Analysis, Working Capital, Chi- Square Test, Critical Value, Computed Value.