New Delhi:
Prices of fuel continued to fall on Thursday because of the huge fall in global crude oil prices last week. Petrol was pegged at Rs 73.24 a litre with a fall in Rs 0.33 in Delhi, while diesel was being sold at Rs 68.13 after a decrease of Rs 0.36, according to the data in the Indian Oil Corporation website. In Mumbai, petrol was sold at Rs 78.80 per litre on Tuesday compared to Rs 79.12 on Wednesday. Diesel in Mumbai was sold at Rs 71.33 per litre as against 71.71 per litre the previous day.
In Chennai, petrol was retailing at Rs 76.01 per litre and diesel at 71.95 a litre. In Kolkata, petrol was sold at Rs 75.24 per litre and diesel was sold at Rs 69.98.
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With Wednesday price revision, petrol fell below the Rs 74 per-litre mark for the first time since April as the six-week-long price reduction spree wiped off all of the massive price hikes witnessed in petrol and diesel rates earlier this year. With this, the reduction in rates in last six weeks totals Rs 9.62 per litre on petrol and Rs 7.58 per litre on diesel on Thursday. Rates have been on the decline since October 18. This has wiped off all of the price hike on petrol and diesel in two months beginning August 16. The reduction in diesel rates has been slower due to moderate fall in its benchmark international prices, according to oil company price notifications.
Oil prices slumped to its lowest level in 2018 on Friday after 8 per cent correction in prices. Brent crude oil futures hit their lowest since December 2017 at $59.04 per barrel. On Monday, it witnessed minor bounceback and was trading near $59.50 per barrel mark. The retail selling price of petrol and diesel is dependent on the international prices of benchmark fuel and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate. This is because a large proportion of country's requirement is met through imports.
Petrol price had touched a record high of Rs 84 per litre in Delhi and Rs 91.34 in Mumbai on October 4. Diesel on that day had peaked to an all-time high of Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi and Rs 80.10 in Mumbai.
Prices had started to climb from August 16. Petrol in Delhi was priced at Rs 77.14 per litre and in Mumbai it cost Rs 84.58 on August 15. Diesel on that day was priced at Rs 68.72 per litre in Delhi and at Rs 72.96 in Mumbai.
Between August 16 and October 4, petrol price was hiked by Rs 6.86 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.73.
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On October 4, the government decided to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each and asked state-owned fuel retailers to subsidise the price by another Re 1 a litre by reducing their margins. Subsequent to this, the petrol price came down to Rs 81.50 per litre in Delhi and diesel to Rs 72.95 a litre on October 5. In Mumbai, rates fell to Rs 86.97 per litre for petrol and Rs 77.45 in case of diesel.
Before the price cut, petrol in Delhi had hit an all-time high of Rs 84 per litre while diesel was at record Rs 75.45. This came down to Rs 81.50 per litre for petrol and Rs 72.95 in case of diesel.
