BackFuel prices steady for four weeks in a row
Retail prices were last revised on 22 May, a day after the government announced excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel
PremiumNEW DELHI : Oil marketing companies (OMCs) have kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged for four consecutive weeks now.
In the national capital petrol is sold at ₹96.72 per litre, while diesel is priced at ₹89.62 a litre.
Retail prices were last revised on 22 May, a day after the government announced excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel.
Domestic fuel prices continued to remain steady despite volatility in the global crude prices. Oil prices which were largely above the $120 per barrel mark of late, declined over 5% on Friday amid recessionary concerns.
The August contract of Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange closed at $113.12 per barrel on Friday, lower by 5.58% from its previous close. Similarly, the July contract of West Texas Intermediate fell 6.83% to $109.56 a barrel.
Interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and central banks across several major economies weighed on the investor sentiments on Friday.
Ravindra Rao, head of commodity research at Kotak Securities said that demand concerns due to monetary tightening by major central banks threatened impact economic activity resulting in fall in oil prices.
The volatility is expected to continue in the coming week.
Further, the resurgent cases of covid in China and fresh sanctions by the US on Iranian petrochemical companies are expected to add to the supply concerns and volatility.
The elevated and volatile global oil prices come as a major concern for India as the country imports around 85% of its energy requirements. The high oil prices has been among the key factors for high inflation in the country. Recent government data showed that India’s wholesale price inflation for May surged to a 30-year high of 15.88%.
Going by these inflationary concerns, Centre on 21 May announced to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹8 and ₹6 per litre respectively.
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