Fuel prices hiked for sixth straight day, check January 15 prices here

After a steep rise in the prices of petrol and diesel on Monday, Tuesday again saw rates going up for the sixth consecutive day. OPEC-led nations have decided to lessen oil production again, petrol, diesel prices in the country might go up again even as if they are on a rise since January 7. Petrol retailed at Rs 70.41 a litre and diesel at Rs 64.47 in Delhi after today’s price revision as notified by Indian Oil.  In Mumbai, petrol hovered over the Rs 76-mark and settled at Rs 76.05 a litre, while diesel retailed at Rs 67.49 per litre. In Kolkata, a litre of petrol was priced at Rs 72.52 a litre whereas diesel price went up to Rs 66.24 a litre. In Chennai, prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 73.08 and Rs 68.09 a litre, respectively.

The NCR cities of Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad also witnessed hikes in the prices of fuel. In Noida, prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 70.29 and Rs 63.84 a litre, respectively. Petrol was retailing at Rs 71.32 in Gurugram and Rs 71.53 a litre in Faridabad, respectively. While diesel was priced at Rs 64.45 in Gurugram Rs 64.66 in Faridabad, respectively.

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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.

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 USD 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.