Crude Oil Price Breaches $50 Mark For The First Time Since March

International benchmark for oil prices- Brent Crude futures- was up by $1.27 or 2.6% on Thursday to climb to $50.13 per barrel. The benchmark crossed the $50/barrel for the first time since March as hopes of a faster demand recovery after the release of COVID-19 vaccines offset a huge rise in US crude inventories.

Public vaccination drive began in Britain this week and is expected to start in the US this weekend. The positive economic impact of vaccination aided the rise.

Concerns over an attack on an Iraqi oilfield also supported oil prices. Two wells at a small field were set ablaze by explosives on Wednesday, but overall production from the field was not affected.

International oil prices have recovered from their historic lows seen in April this year when at the height of COVID-19 panic, major economies called for an almost complete lockdown of activity.

Fuel prices in India are revised on a daily basis based on the movement in international rates of crude oil and the exchange value of the rupee.

After the recent hike, petrol costs Rs 83-90 a litre in the country's metro cities while diesel is priced at Rs 73-80 a litre.

Apart from the recovery in international oil prices, a sharp jump in excise duty on petrol as well as diesel after the nationwide lockdown by the central government and additional taxes imposed by state governments in order to recover loss of revenue amid the pandemic have push rates closer to their all-time highs.