Fuel Prices In India Go Up When Crude Prices Come Down

The fuel prices were hiked even as oil prices fell on Friday as concerns about the patchy roll-out of anti-coronavirus vaccinations around the world tempered earlier-in-the-week optimism that demand for fuels was recovering from the pandemic's depths.

Fuel Prices In India Go Up When Crude Prices Come Down | File Image

The cost of sensitive fuel petrol and diesel has gone up again on Friday despite crude oil prices falling in the international markets. The state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) have increased the petrol prices by up to 27 paise per liter and diesel by 28 paise across metros, taking the rates to a fresh record high, as per the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) data.

The fuel prices were hiked even as oil prices fell on Friday as concerns about the patchy roll-out of anti-coronavirus vaccinations around the world tempered earlier-in-the-week optimism that demand for fuels was recovering from the pandemic's depths.

On Friday, Brent crude was down 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $71.02 per barrel as of 0057 GMT, after falling 4 cents on Thursday after reaching a high not seen since May 2019. Even the US oil fell 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.52, after dropping 2 cents in the previous session.

In Delhi, a liter of petrol costs Rs 94.76, and a liter of diesel costs Rs 85.66. In Mumbai, petrol price is approaching the Rs 101 mark, rising to Rs 100.98 per liter on Friday, while diesel is priced at Rs 92.99 per liter.

Since May 2, petrol price has been raised by Rs 4.36 per liter and diesel by Rs 4.93 per liter. In 2021, petrol price has increased by over Rs 11 per liter and diesel by nearly Rs 12 per liter.

Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan has the highest level of petrol price at Rs 105.52 per liter, while diesel prices are also close to the century mark at Rs 98.32 per liter.

The Indian crude oil basket averaged $64.73 per barrel in March, $63.4 in April, and $66.95 in May, but the OMCs refrained from raising fuel prices in March and April, and the prices started inching upwards only after the election results in five states were announced on May 2.

The Indian basket of Crude Oil represents a derived basket comprising Sour grade (Oman & Dubai average) and Sweet grade (Brent Dated) of Crude oil processed in Indian refineries in the ratio of 75.62 : 24.38 during 2019-20.