New Delhi:
Petrol and diesel prices remained steady after a marginal fall on Tuesday in Delhi, where petrol was retailing at Rs 70.44 a litre and diesel at Rs 65.51 per litre on Wednesday. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel were priced Rs 76.08 and Rs 68.59, respectively. In Kolkata, petrol was priced at 72.55 and diesel at Rs 67.29, while in Chennai, petrol was retailing at 73.11 and diesel at 69.20.
In Noida, petrol was priced at Rs 70.34 a litre and diesel at Rs 64.75 a litre. In Gurugram, petrol and diesel retailed at Rs 71.35 a litre and Rs 65.35 a litre. In Faridabad, petrol cost Rs 71.57 a litre and Rs diesel cost Rs 65.56.
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 considered, 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.
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.
