OMCs keep petrol, diesel prices unchanged
Premium- On Monday, crude oil prices rose on hopes of higher demand in the US amid tightening supplies. Easing of pandemic-induced restrictions in Shanghai also supported prices.
NEW DELHI: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) kept the prices of petrol and diesel unchanged on Monday. The price of petrol in the national capital stood at ₹96.72 per litre, while diesel sold for ₹89.62 a litre.
Domestic fuel prices had declined on Sunday in line with the cut in excise duty. Analysts said a further reduction in retail prices is unlikely as global crude oil prices remain high and OMCs have accumulated under-recoveries.
On Saturday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction in central excise duty on petrol by ₹8 per litre and on diesel by ₹6 per litre.
“This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹ 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹ 7 per litre," she had said in a series a tweets. The reduction on excise duty will have a revenue implication of around ₹1 lakh crore per year for the government.
Following the Centre’s move, several state governments including Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have lowered their value added taxes (VAT) on fuel sales.
Petrol and diesel prices across the country had remained unchanged since 6 April when prices were raised by 80 paise a litre. OMCs had hiked prices ₹10 a litre each during 22 March - 6 April.
On Monday, crude oil prices rose on hopes of higher demand in the US amid tightening supplies. Easing of restrictions in Shanghai also supported prices.
Rahul Kalantri, vice president for commodities at Mehta Equities, said, “The jump in crude oil prices were supported by record gains in the U.S. gasoline prices, weakness in the dollar index and easing covid-19 lockdown restrictions in China."
He said crude oil prices will be volatile during the day.
Around 11am, the July contract of Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange was at $113.33 per barrel, up 0.69% from its previous close. Similarly, the July contract of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on NYMEX rose 0.49% to $110.82.
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