Continuous price cuts by oil companies over the past week managed to bring down fuel prices in the country. Petrol prices fell by up to 89 paise, whereas diesel prices declined by as much as Rs 1.2 since February 7. Producers have been slashing petrol and diesel prices for the past ten days on account of falling crude oil prices.
Petrol and diesel prices had reached uncomfortable highs after the crude oil prices peaked at $71 per barrel last month, before starting to come down. As per the prices released by Indian Oil Corporation, per litre of petrol retailed in Delhi for Rs 72.52, Kolkata Rs 75.22, Mumbai Rs 80.39, and Chennai Rs 75.21. Diesel prices slid down to Rs 63.02 per litre in Delhi, Rs 65.68 in Kolkata, Rs 67.11 in Mumbai, and Rs 6.45 in Chennai, the state-owned refiner said. The new prices have come into effect from 6:00am February 16.
This decline in petrol and diesel prices was possible after a decline in crude oil prices. The benchmark on Brent crude oil price fell three cents to $64.33 per barrel. Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude price increased 74 cents to reach $61.34 per barrel.
Petrol and diesel companies had adopted a daily price revision system from June 2017, under which fuel prices reportedly changed in the range of 1-15 paise every fortnight. The skyrocketing fuel prices had raised expectations of some relief from the Budget 2018, which never came due to limited financial room. Government had earlier talked about excise duty cut on petrol and diesel if crude oil prices reach $75 per barrel.
