Petrol, diesel prices cut again today: Rates in top cities

New Delhi: With crude oil prices hitting one-year low following seven consecutive weeks of losses, petrol and diesel prices are now at their lowest since the last few months.

Petrol, diesel prices were reduced by 32 paise and 40 paise, respectively, on Saturday. While petrol price in Delhi is now the lowest since June, in Mumbai, petrol price has never been cheaper before this financial year. A litre of petrol costs ₹ 75.25 in Delhi, ₹ 80.79 in Mumbai, ₹ 75.84 in Bengaluru, ₹ 78.12 in Chennai and ₹ 77.22 in Kolkata.

Diesel is priced at ₹ 70.16 in Delhi, ₹ 73.48 in Mumbai, ₹ 74.13 in Chennai and ₹ 72.01 in Kolkata. Reflecting the bearish stance that the global crude oil market has taken since October, petrol and diesel prices, which peaked last month, have been on the declining trend as well. A fall in the rupee, which was then hovering above ₹ 74 against the US dollar and is currently below 71, has also made crude imports cheaper for India.

Also read: Petrol is now cheaper than diesel in these cities

State-run oil companies use a formula based on fortnightly average of crude oil price and exchange rate of the rupee to determine fuel prices in India.

The price cut is expected to be higher in the next few days. On Friday itself, crude oil slumped by about 8%. Brent crude futures settled down $3.80 a barrel, or 6.1%, at $58.80. During the session, the benchmark dropped to $58.41, the lowest since October 2017.

US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) lost $4.21, or 7.7%, to trade at $50.42, also the weakest since October 2017.

Unless the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decides to cut down supply in its meeting on December 6, crude oil is unlikely to move out of the bearish territory soon.