Petrol crosses Rs 92 mark in Mumbai, diesel at all-time high

Petrol price on Friday crossed Rs 92 a litre mark in Mumbai while diesel touched an alltime high after rates were raised for the third time this weekPetrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each according to a price notification from oil marketing companiesThis took the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 8545 per litre and Rs 9204 in MumbaiDiesel rate climbed to Rs 7563 a litre in the national capital its highest ever In Mumbai diesel price too increased to an alltime high of Rs 8240 the price data showedPetrol and diesel prices were raised by 25 paise per litre each on January 18 and 19Fuel prices are now at a record high in the country prompting cries for a cut in excise duty to ease the burden on the consumersOil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier this week blamed Saudi oil output cut for the surge in oil prices but remained noncommittal on tax cutsTop oil explorer Saudi Arabia has pledged additional voluntary output cuts of 1 million barrels per day in February and March which has led to price climbing to most since the pandemic broke outA few months back we all were discussing about consumptioncentric revival demanddriven revival and we were supposed to restrict our production cut and rampup of production gradually by January But contradiction to that we all are controlling oil production now he said at an energy conference referring to a deal between Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC and its allies including RussiaThis cut he said was creating confusion among consuming nationsThis kind of scenario will push us to more alternate methods of energy sourcing Every country has its own strategy Being a major consumer of the globe today we would be looking towards more alternate energy sources Pradhan saidIf the producing countries will not recognise our aspiration then new business models are bound to come up he had notedHowever OPEC SecretaryGeneral Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo who was also present at the conference countered Pradhan saying the output cut was within the framework of last years deal to cut output by about 97 million barrels per day and were aimed at keeping oil markets stable on a sustainable basisWith weaker projections of demand returning globally OPEC and its allies decided to temper the restoration of supplies he said We do not allow disequilibrium and building of stocks to materialiseThe production cut decision was taken to assist all of us in the group including India and other consumers to maintain stability he had said Our target remains stable oil markets And to have this on a sustainable basis we need to adjust we need to flexible we need to be adaptable but it is all within the framework of 97 million bpd that will last until 2022Stateowned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation Ltd IOC Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd HPCL had on January 6 resumed daily price revision after nearly a monthlong hiatusSince then rates have gone up by Rs 174 a litre on petrol and Rs 176 in case of dieselThis comes after international oil prices firmed up on hopes of demand returning from the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in different countries including IndiaWhen fuel prices had last touched record high on October 4 2018 the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 150 per litre in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and boost consumer confidence Alongside stateowned fuel retailers cut prices by another Re 1 a litre which they recouped laterThis time there are no indications of a duty cut so farPetrol and diesel prices are revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates They vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever