New Delhi:
Petrol and diesel continued with their upward trend on Monday after sharp rises the past week. After today's (February 25) price revision, petrol prices in national capital Delhi was Rs 71.57 a litre against Rs 71.43 on Sunday while diesel price went up to Rs 66.80 per litre compared to Rs 66.64 yesterday. In Mumbai, petrol was retailing at Rs 77.20 a litre and diesel at Rs 69.97. People in Kolkata have to shell out Rs 73.67 a litre for petrol and Rs 68.59 for diesel. In Chennai, a litre of petrol cost Rs 74.32 while diesel retailed at Rs 70.59.
In Gurugram, petrol price was Rs 71.99 per litre. Diesel price, on the other hand, was Rs 66.20 on Sunday. Petrol in Noida was retailing at Rs 71.22, while diesel price was Rs 65.86. In Faridabad, petrol and diesel were priced at Rs 74.96 and Rs 66.42 a litre, respectively.
Among all metros and most state capitals, petrol and diesel prices in Delhi are the cheapest due to lower taxes. Crude oil prices went up by about 5 per cent the past week in the international market. Oil prices touched three-month high on Friday. The rise was supported by high hopes of the United States and China reaching the end of their trade war.
Retail petrol price had peaked to Rs 84 a litre in Delhi in October 2018 and it crossed the Rs 91-mark in Mumbai. In the international oil market, crude prices went up on Monday, amid supply cuts by OPEC and US cubs on Iran and Venezuela. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $66.78 per barrel, up 0.6 per cent, from their last close.
Global crude oil prices have declined about 28 per cent since the October high of $86.74 a barrel. However, Brent futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - have risen about 16 per cent so far in 2019.
Because of the daily dynamic pricing regime, the retail fuel prices depend on global crude prices on a 15-day average, besides and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate as India imports 80 per cent of its crude requirements.
