Petrol, diesel prices cut after 15-day pause

Petrol and diesel prices fell by about 14 -16 paise per litre across major cities after a 15-day halt in price revisions by oil marketing companies (OMCs) when four states — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam — went to polls.

The price of petrol in the national capital fell by 16 paise to Rs 90.40 per litre, while that of diesel was cut by 14 paise to Rs 80.73 per litre. OMCs have revised the prices only four times in 47 days since February 28 when they stopped hiking prices, even as crude oil prices continued to rise.

A correction in the price of Brent crude to about $62 per barrel in early April from a peak of $70 a barrel in early March led to OMCs cutting prices of auto fuels in line with international prices.

Crude prices impact the prices of petrol and diesel with a 15-day lag as domestic prices are benchmarked to a 15-day rolling average of global prices of petrol and diesel. The prices of petrol and diesel, however, are still near all-time high levels, with petrol having risen 8 per cent and diesel by about 9.3 per cent since 2020.