Fuel Price

The OMCs though have not reduced the retail price of petrol or diesel as more time would be required to study oil price movement before any downward revision. With no change in prices, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.84 per litre in the national capital, while diesel is also being sold at the unchanged rate of Rs 89.87 a litre. The pump price of fuel has been static since Sunday.

Accordingly, in the national capital, petrol continued to be sold at Rs 101.84 per litre, while diesel remained unchanged at Rs 89.87 a litre on Thursday. The pump price of fuel has been static since Sunday. It rose on Saturday with petrol being revised upwards by 30 paisa per litre while diesel prices remained unchanged.

The benchmark Brent crude that had risen to $77 a barrel late last month has shed more than 10 per cent in the last fortnight to reach a level of $68.85 a barrel now. If the price line remains below $70 a barrel for a few more days, petrol and diesel prices could see a cut in the coming days.

Accordingly, in the national capital, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.84 per litre, while diesel is also being sold at the unchanged price of Rs 89.87 a litre. One of the main reasons for pause in fuel price rise is over 10 per cent fall in global oil prices with benchmark crude sliding to $69 a barrel from a high of over $77 barrel just couple of weeks back.

The increase in Covid cases globally have made the oil market uncertain as it has the potential to erode demand quickly. The benchmark Brent crude declined by 3 per cent to settle at around $73 a barrel, while US crude has fallen by about 4 per cent to settle at about $71 a barrel. The fall this month has come after crude fell in the previous eight months as the global economy recovered from the pandemic.

In the National capital, ATF prices for domestic airlines increased by 2.44 per cent from Rs 68,262.35 per kilo litre on July 1 to Rs 69,857.97 on July 16. In Mumbai too ATF rose from a level of Rs 66,482.90 per Kl to Rs 68,064.65 per Kl on Friday. The move is expected to make air travel more expensive, further impacting demand.

At the current historic high of fuel price levels in the country, the margin taken by the oil marketing companies (OMCs) on retail sale of petrol and diesel has touched a high of aground Rs 3 per litre. What this means is that while rising fuel prices burn a bigger hole in the consumer's pocket, the OMCs are increasing their earnings and getting a lift in the current difficult environment created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The rise of diesel has been sharper in FY21 in Mumbai where it rose by Rs 21.75 per litre from Rs 66.21 a litre last year to Rs 87.96 a litre this year March end. In the current fiscal, diesel rates have risen by Rs 8.85 in Delhi from Rs 80.87 on April 1 to Rs 89.72 now. In Mumbai, the fuel has risen by Rs 9.33 per litre to Rs 97.29 a litre now. The fuel is most expensive in Mumbai among all the metros.

After crossing $77 a barrel, global crude prices have softened a bit with differences surfacing in oil cartel OPEC over continuation of production cuts and demand concerns over rising Covid cases in several European countries. The oil marketing companies kept the retail price of petrol and diesel unchanged on Tuesday to analyse the global oil price movement before making further revisions.

Before Monday, the retail prices of petrol and diesel rose by a sharp 35 paise and 26 paise per litre on Saturday while it remained unchanged on Sunday. Global cues pushed fuel prices to increase again across the country on Monday adding more misery to the common man already grappling with rising food prices amid shrinking income. Reduced the primp price of diesel for the first time in close to three months.