Petrol prices down Rs. 2

  • Jun 4, 2012
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  • 2 min read

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Govt slashes petrol prices by Rs 2 a litre. Another reduction likely in the middle of June if global crude prices soften.

Refuelling

State oil companies have cut petrol prices by 2.02 a litre. The new prices will be effective from Sunday. The price cut came after Brent crude oil crashed to $98.4 per barrel, a level last seen in January 2011. The sharp fall in global prices sets the stage for another reduction in petrol rates in the middle of this month if the global trend persists and the rupee does not depreciate further against the dollar, company executives said. 

Consumers in Delhi may get another windfall if the state government cuts local taxes as promised after the unprecedented 7.54 jump in petrol prices on May 24. 

“We have reduced petrol prices because of fall in international prices. The cut would have been more if rupee would not have depreciated since last revision,” Indian Oil Corp chairman RS Butola said. 

International crude oil prices have fallen 8.3% this year. In contrast, petrol prices in India were raised 11% last week, and cut 2.7% from Sunday. 

Oil companies want the freedom to revise petrol prices every two weeks. “This rollback is on expected lines and has not been done under any government pressure. It reflects the recent drop in global crude oil prices, petroleum product prices and the prevailing rupee exchange rate. We hope that we will get a similar opportunity to revise petrol prices every fortnight so as to better account for global pricing realities,” said RK Singh, CMD of BPCL. 

State oil marketing firms were scheduled to cut petrol rates on June 1, but they deferred their decision to prevent the BJP from claiming that the government succumbed to pressure after the May 31 ‘Bharat Bandh’ organised against the steep hike in petrol prices, company executives said. 

While prices of petrol are shoring up the balance sheets of Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, the companies are suffering on account of low state-set prices of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene. Prices of these fuels have been frozen since June 2011. Since then, the revenue loss of diesel has doubled to 12.53 per litre. It has gone up to 30.53 per litre from 24.16 per litre for kerosene, and for a cylinder of cooking gas, it has gone up to 396 from 331.13.

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