Petrol price rises for third time in five days up to 20 paise on recent fall in rupee; diesel rates increase too

The oil marketing companies hiked petrol and diesel prices on Monday following the recent depreciation of rupee against the US dollar, said media reports. Petrol became costlier by 19-20 paise per litre, third time since December 13. The diesel prices also rose by 9-10 paise per litre across the major cities, according to the data on Indian Oil Corporation website. In Delhi, petrol is has been priced at Rs 70.53, a rise of 19 paise compared with Sunday’s price of Rs 70.34. In Mumbai, petrol is sold at 19 paise higher at Rs 76.15 as compared to Sunday’s price of Rs 75.96. [caption id=“attachment_5319381” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In Chennai, petrol is sold at Rs 73.19, a rise of 20 paise from Sunday’s rate of Rs 72.99. In Kolkata, petrol is retailed at Rs 72.62, a rise of  19 paise from Sunday’s price of Rs 72.43. Similarly, in Delhi, diesel is sold at Rs 64.47, 9 paise higher than Sunday’s price of Rs 64.38. In Mumbai, diesel is retailing at Rs 67.47, up 9 paise against Sunday’s price of Rs 67.38. In Chennai, diesel is priced at 68.07, a rise of 10 paise from Sunday’s rate of Rs 67.97 and in Kolkata, diesel is sold at Rs 66.23, an increase of 9 paise from the previous day’s rate Rs 66.14. Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose on Monday after UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei suggested the market was rebalancing, but investor sentiment remained under pressure from oversupply and concern over the prospects for global economic growth and fuel demand. Brent crude oil was up 90 cents a barrel, or 1.5 percent, at $61.18 per barrel. US light crude was 65 cents higher at $51.85. “Oil prices are regaining some ground on the back of bullish rhetoric from Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) officials,” said Stephen Brennock, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil. Both benchmarks fell more than 25 percent through October and November as a supply glut inflated global inventories but have stabilized over the last three weeks, trading within fairly narrow ranges as oil producers have promised to cut production. Some investors doubt planned supply cuts by the OPEC and other producers such as Russia will be enough to rebalance markets. OPEC and its allies have agreed to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January, in a move to be reviewed at a meeting in April.