On Sunday, petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged for over a month despite crude oil rates tumbled due to weak demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The fuel rates were hiked in Mumbai and Kolkata by Rs 1 on April 2.
According to the official website of Indian Oil Corporation, on Saturday, petrol now costs Rs 69.59 per litre in Delhi, Rs 76.31 per litre in Mumbai. Similarly, diesel costs Rs 62.29 a litre in Delhi, Rs 66.21 a litre in Mumbai. In Kolkata, a litre of petrol will cost Rs 73.30 per litre whereas diesel is now priced at Rs 65.62 per litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol will cost Rs 72.28 per litre whereas diesel is now priced at Rs 65.71 per litre.
Crude oil prices continued their fall on Friday with the WTI crude of US dropping below the $19 per barrel mark and benchmark Brent crude price subdued on weakest economic data in three decades reported by China due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is trading at $18.37 per barrel, lower by nearly 7.5 per cent from its previous close. Brent crude oil is at $28.50 a barrel, up 2.5 per cent from its previous closing level but has not seen any major pick up even after OPEC and other large oil producers agreed for production cut to stem the oil price slide.
Crude oil futures on Friday plummeted 3.07 per cent to Rs 1,513 per barrel as participants trimmed their positions on weak spot demand. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for April delivery fell by Rs 48, or 3.07 per cent, to Rs 1,513 per barrel with a business volume of 33,707 lots.