New Delhi: Common man has to gear up for fuel price rise as oil companies may raise diesel and petrol prices to pare losses accumulated from keeping rates steady for over four months and on the back of global oil prices surging to a 13-year high of $140 per barrel.


Fuel prices need to be increased by Rs 15 a litre for fuel retailers to break even, industry sources told news agency PTI.


Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged above $139 a barrel, before settling to below $130, according to Reuters. Brent crude touched its all-time high in July 2008, when the price per barrel of US crude climbed to $145.29 per barrel.


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Oil prices climbed to their highest since 2008 due to delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets and as the United States and European allies consider banning imports of Russian oil.


What does it mean for India?


The rise in global oil prices will mostly make India vulnerable among Asian countries as it depends on overseas purchases to meet almost 85 per cent of its oil requirement.


The oil price rise, which already soared more than 60 per cent this year along with the weakening rupee may prove to be a double whammy hurting the nation's finances. The situation may upend a nascent economic recovery and fire up inflation.


Since 2017, fuel prices are adjusted daily in line with the benchmark international rate in the preceding 15 days. However, rates were frozen since November 4, 2021.


The basket of crude oil that India buys rose above $111 per barrel on March 1, according to information from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.


"With the last phase of polling ending on Monday, it is now expected that the government will allow state-owned fuel retailers to return to daily price revision," an industry official told PTI.


However, oil companies are not expected to pass on the entire loss in one go but it will be moderated - raising rates by less than 50 paise a litre every day, as per the agency sources.


Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged in the country on Tuesday. Petrol in Delhi costs Rs 95.41 a litre while the rate of diesel is Rs 86.67 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol can be bought at Rs 109.98 per litre and diesel costs Rs 94.14 for one litre.


In Chennai, a litre of petrol is priced at Rs 101.40. On Tuesday, the price of a litre of diesel was Rs 91.43 per litre.


(With PTI Inputs)