New Delhi:
Fuel prices witnessed a rise on Thursday with petrol and diesel retailing at Rs 70.47 a litre (increase by Rs 0.14) and Rs 64.78 per litre (increase by Rs. 0.19), respectively in Delhi. Pieces of petrol and diesel were Rs 76.11 a litre (increase by Rs. 0.14) and Rs 67.82 a /litre (increase by Rs 0.20), respectively in Mumbai. Prices of fuel are on a three-week high in the country after the latest price revision as notified by oil-producing firms. A litre of petrol in Kolkata cost Rs 72.58, while diesel cost Rs 66.55 a litre. In Chennai, prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 73.15 and Rs 68.42 a litre, respectively.
In Noida, prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 70.34 and Rs 64.10 a litre, respectively. Petrol was retailing at Rs 71.37 in Gurugram and Rs 71.58 a litre in Faridabad, respectively. While diesel was priced at Rs 64.71 in Gurugram and Rs 64.93 in Faridabad, respectively.
Prior to an increase in prices on January 7, rates had cooled to a year's low of Rs 68.29 for petrol and Rs 62.16 in case of diesel. This followed a decline in rates on almost all days since October 18, 2018. In all, the petrol price has fallen by Rs 14.54 per litre since October 18, 2018, while diesel price declined by Rs 13.53 per litre in two-and-a-half months.
If the last three months are taken into account then the price of petrol has fallen by about Rs 12 or about 15%. International benchmark Brent crude oil, which is now trading close to the $60 per barrel mark, has lost about 25% of its value during the corresponding period.
It may be noted that the recent fall in the value of rupee against the US dollar has offset gains from the falling crude oil prices. The rupee has fallen over 3 per cent in the last few days. The crude prices have fallen by over 30 per cent since early October last year when it was at $86 per barrel, making a forecast of $100 crude by January look true. The twin factors, therefore, have brought down retail fuel rates to two-month low. Retail fuel prices in India depend on both international oil price and the rupee-dollar exchange rate. Also, the pump price of petrol and diesel is dependent on the global rates of benchmark fuel and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate.
