Fuel prices increase by Rs8/litre in 13 days, petrol over Rs103 in Delhi
Premium- The increase in retail fuel prices continues although global crude oil prices started easing
NEW DELHI : Petrol and diesel prices in the country continued to rise on Sunday taking the cumulative hike in prices to ₹8 per litre in the national capital.
In Delhi, prices of both petrol and diesel again increased by 80 paise to ₹103.41 and ₹94.67 per litre, respectively.
This is the 11th increase in the last 13 days since the daily price revision resumed on March 22, 2022 after a hiatus of over four months.
The increase in retail fuel prices continues although global crude oil prices started easing. Experts believe the staggered increase in transport fuel prices is here to stay as the oil marketing companies need to make up for their under-recoveries as retail prices were stagnant since November although oil prices surged to multi-year highs amid supply concerns and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A report by Moody's Investor Services said that the state-owned refining and marketing companies together lost around $2.25 billion ( ₹19,000 crore) in revenue on petrol and diesel sales during the four months of steady fuel prices.
However, in the past few sessions, crude oil prices largely remained subdued hoping for ease in supplies and demand concerns emanating out of China after the recent surge in Covid cases in the country and the eventual lockdown in the business hub of Shanghai.
The June contract of Brent futures on the Intercontinental Exchange on Friday closed at $104.39 per barrel, lower by 0.31% from its previous close. The Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell below the $100-per-barrel-mark. The May contract of WTI futures on the NYMEX closed at $99.27 per barrel, lower by 1.01% from its previous close.
The prices declined, after US President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered a major release of oil from America's reserves in an effort to bring down high fuel costs. The US launched the release of up to 180 million barrels of oil over a period of six months.
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In the week ahead, crude prices are expected to ease further, as the members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a meeting on Friday decided to join the US in releasing more stocks from their emergency reserves.
"The International Energy Agency’s 31 member countries agreed on Friday to a new release of oil from emergency reserves in response to the market turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, underscoring their strong and unified commitment to stabilizing global energy markets," IEA said in a statement.
The details of the new emergency stock release will be made public in the coming week The agreement follows the previous action taken by IEA Member Countries, announced last month, to which they pledged a total of 62.7 million barrels.
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