Petrol and diesel prices hit record high in Delhi

With the fuel price hike across the country, petrol is selling in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at more than ₹100 per litre (HT)Premium
With the fuel price hike across the country, petrol is selling in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at more than ₹100 per litre (HT)
 2 min read . Updated: 10 May 2021, 05:18 PM IST Staff Writer

NEW DELHI : Transportation fuel price hike continued on Monday with state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) raising the prices of petrol and diesel by 26 paise per litre and 33 paise per litre, respectively, in the national capital. Petrol and diesel were selling at ₹91.53 per litre and ₹82.06 per litre respectively at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s outlets in Delhi, recording an all-time high.

After remaining stable in the run-up to and during the assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, fuel prices shot up once the results were declared.

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With the fuel price hike across the country, petrol is selling in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at more than ₹100 per litre. The previously recorded highest prices for petrol and diesel in Delhi were ₹91.27 per litre and ₹81.94 a litre respectively.

This comes against the backdrop of benchmark Brent crude trading at $68.77 per barrel on Monday, and the West Texas Intermediate was at $65.26 a barrel at the time of writing this story. Global crude oil prices have been rallying after a cyberattack on US fuel pipeline network—Colonial Pipeline. Also, there have been subdued supplies from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)-plus grouping.

The fuel demand in India has dipped with several states imposing lockdowns amid a second wave raging across the country—the world’s third-largest oil importer and the fourth-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas.

The cost of the Indian basket of crude, which comprises Oman, Dubai and Brent crude, was at $66.62 a barrel on 7 May. Following the covid outbreak, crude prices for Indian basket of crude had plunged to $19.90 in April last year before recovering to $63.40 a barrel in April, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed.

Every dollar increase in the price of oil raises India’s import bill by ₹10,700 crore on an annualized basis. India spent $101.4 billion on crude oil imports in 2019-20 and $111.9 billion in 2018-19.

Interestingly, the diesel and petrol retail prices in India have always remained subdued during the elections, with three government-run OMCs—Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL)—refraining from raising prices. The state-run OMCs and the government have maintained that there is no correlation between elections and transportation fuel price freeze.

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