Petrol and Diesel Hiked Again Despite 4% Drop in International Rates

Fuel prices were hiked for the thirteenth straight day in India despite a drop in international crude oil rates. Petrol prices across state capitals were up by 14 paise on an average as per the data available on state-owned IOC's website. Price per litre of petrol in Delhi was revised to Rs 77.97, Rs 80.61 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 85.78 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 80.95 per litre in Chennai.

Diesel prices across the nation were up by 15 paise on an average. Price per litre of diesel in Delhi was revised to Rs 68.9, Rs 71.45 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 73.36 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 72.74 per litre in Chennai.

The increase, however, is less than half of yesterday's hike of 37 paise on an average for petrol. Diesel which has been revised by a little over 20 paise all week saw a 15 paise rise.

Meanwhile, international crude oil benchmarks fell sharply after Russian energy minister said that his country and a group of other oil-rich countries will increase their outputs. These countries had set limits to their production capacity last year to keep the price of oil balanced.

Benchmark WTI (West Texas Intermediate) price dropped as much as 4 percent to $67.88 per barrel from its week's peak of $72.83 as per data on CNBC. Another crude oil benchmark Brent was down by 3.1 percent or $2.42 to $76.37. It had hit a 3 and a half year high of $80.50 last week.

Crude oil prices in India is usually reflective of international rates, therefore one can say that the oil marketers are still recovering the losses faced during the 19-day halt in daily price revision before the Karnataka assembly polls when international crude oil prices were at their peak.