Petrol, diesel prices stable after rising for eighth straight day; crude falls after Donald Trump douses trade talk hopes

After continuous rise for eight days since 17 September, petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged from the previous day’s rates in major cities across the country on Wednesday, according to Indian Oil Corporation website data. Meanwhile, crude oil prices fell in the international market on Wednesday for a second day on worries that fuel demand could fall after US President Donald Trump doused recent optimism over China-US trade talks and reignited concerns about global economic growth, reported Reuters. On Tuesday, prices of petrol hit this year’s peak in the country touching close to Rs 80 per litre in Mumbai, the highest so far. [caption id=“attachment_5319381” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] In Delhi, petrol was selling at Rs 74.13 per litre, Mumbai Rs 79.79, Kolkata Rs 76.82 and in Chennai at 77.06 per litre. Diesel was priced in Delhi at Rs 67.07 a litre, Mumbai Rs 70.37, Kolkata Rs 69.49 and Chennai at Rs 70.91 per litre. There was no change in the fuel prices on Wednesday. Since the beginning of this year, petrol prices have gone up by Rs 5.48, while diesel rate has increased by Rs 4.41 in Delhi. Petrol prices crossed Rs 90-mark in Mumbai for the first time in September 2018 and touched a peak of Rs 91.34 on 4 October 2018. The rates of diesel had crossed Rs 80-mark in Maximum City during the same period. Brent crude futures fell 47 cents to $62.63 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped to $56.94, down 35 cents. Both benchmarks have fallen to their lowest level since before the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities on 14 September. “What really pulled the rug from underneath oil was Donald Trump’s comments on trade last night … He’s still maintaining quite a belligerent position,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA. Trump criticised China’s trade practices at the United National General Assembly on Tuesday and said he would not accept a “bad deal” in US-China trade negotiations. China is the world’s largest oil importer and second-largest crude user. The United States is the largest consumer of oil. Trump also said he saw a path to peace with Iran even as he denounced Iran for “bloodlust”, cooling other risk premiums built into oil prices. Oil rallied last week following a crippling attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations that disrupted supplies from the world’s top exporter. To meet its supply obligations to Saudi refineries overseas, Saudi Aramco is buying oil from other Middle East producers. “Right now, the market is very concerned about the demand side of the equation, but I would caution against being complacent about what’s happening in the Middle East,” said Howie Lee, an OCBC economist. Saudi’s crude oil stockpiles could run out within two months, and that could prompt buyers to look for supplies in the spot market and push prices higher again, Lee said. Prices were also weighed down by an unexpected build in US crude inventories last week. US crude inventories rose 1.4 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday, compared with analysts’ forecasts of a 200,000-barrel drawdown. Official government data from the US Energy Information Administration will be released later on Wednesday. — With inputs from agencies