Petrol, Diesel Prices Up For Third Time In Four Days

Petrol companies recently re-commenced daily revision of fuel prices on March 22 after having paused price revisions since November 2021. Prices for petrol and diesel today (Friday) saw an upward revision for the third time in four days with the price of the fuels now at Rs. 97.81 and Rs. 89.07 per litre respectively. This marked a rise of 80 paise over prices from Thursday and a cumulative hike Rs. 2.40 per litre since regular price revisions re-commenced. Prices of petrol and Diesel in Mumbai meanwhile stood at Rs. 112.51 and Rs. 96.70 per litre respectively.

Shifting focus to the other metro cities prices for petrol and diesel in Chennai stand at Rs. 103.67 and Rs. 93.71 per litre respectively for Friday while the same for Kolkata stand at Rs. 107.18 and Rs. 92.22 per litre. Petrol in Bangalore meanwhile stands at Rs. 103.11 per litre while diesel is retailing for Rs. 87.37 per litre.

India imports over 80 percent of its crude oil needs with prices of crude oil in international markets and exchange rates directly affecting the revision of pricing in the hands of oil companies.Oil companies had previously frozen the price of petrol and diesel since November 2021 for over 130 days ahead of elections in states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In the intervening period price of crude soared by as much as $ 30 per barrel with the change in pricing not reflected to the final consumer – Indian fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan petroleum lost a cumulative $ 2.25 billion in revenue in this period as per Moody's Investors Services.

Crude oil prices have been volatile since the start of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in Feb with prices currently hovering around the $ 120 per barrel mark having climbed as high as $ 139 a barrel earlier in the month.