New Delhi, Mar 25: After keeping the fuel prices frozen for 25 days ahead of the upcoming crucial assembly elections, state-run fuel retailers, for the first time in over a year, reduced petrol price by 18 paise and diesel by 17 paise per litre on Wednesday, even as benchmark Brent crude plunged by about 13% from a peak of $69.63 per barrel on March 12, 2021.
Pump price of petrol in Delhi fell by 0.19% to ₹90.99 per litre and diesel by 0.2% to ₹81.3%. Fuel retailers align petrol and diesel rates daily with their respective international benchmark rates of previous day.
Despite a sharp fall in international oil rates, oil marketing companies (OMCs) could not reduce fuel prices steeply because they first recovered their losses as they had kept retail prices of petrol and diesel frozen since February 27 this year in view of the assembly polls in four states and a UT, even as global oil prices were moving north, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Brent crude, which was below $60 a barrel until February 5 this year, saw a strong rally for over a month to peak at $69.63 per barrel on March 11 because of supply squeeze by the oil producers’ cartel, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia (together known as OPEC+).
The people cited above said retailers are unlikely to raise fuel prices in the near future because of the state elections that begin from March 27.
