Prices of petrol, diesel hiked again by 90p, up by nearly Rs 4 in a week

NEW DELHI: Oil marketing companies Tuesday hiked petrol and diesel prices by nearly 90 paise per litre, effecting a second revision in less than a week, as their losses mount due to a surge in global crude oil rates, reports Atul Mathur. Petrol now costs Rs 98.64 per litre in Delhi, while diesel is priced at Rs 91.58. Prices vary across states due to different value-added tax structures. Despite the two revisions, totalling nearly Rs 4, oil company executives said they were still incurring losses, though they declined to give numbers. The fuel price hike came as it emerged that state-run IndianOil was losing Rs 617 on each cooking gas cylinder sold by it for domestic use, up from Rs 100 in Feb.Govt keeps domestic LPG prices unchanged at Rs 913.5For the time being, prices of the 14.2kg cylinders have been left untouched at Rs 913.5 in the capital, with govt likely to bear a significant part of the burden. While commercial liquefied petroleum gas prices are revised on the first of every month, oil companies kept domestic liquefied petroleum gas prices — used for cooking by more than 33 crore households — largely stable, except for a one-time increase of Rs 60 per cylinder in March. “Because of this disruption, we have diversified our crude and LPG sourcing. We have changed our refinery diet,” IndiaOil’s director (finance) Anuj Jain said. Jain added that the company had also diversified its liquefied natural gas sourcing and bought gas from Indonesia, Nigeria, Oman and Angola after suppliers in West Asia declared force majeure. Last week, state-run oil retailers had increased fuel prices by nearly Rs 3 a litre for the first time in four years, which the govt claimed had brought down their daily losses from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 750 crore on sale of petrol, diesel and domestic liquefied petroleum gas below market rates. Following last week’s revision, ratings agency Crisil had estimated losses on petrol and diesel at Rs 10 and Rs 13 per litre, respectively. Global crude prices have risen more than 50% since the war broke out in West Asia on Feb 28, disrupting flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Officials said govt initially tried to shield consumers from the price shock, but mounting losses were no longer sustainable for oil marketing companies. A litre of petrol in Mumbai now costs Rs 107.59, while diesel is priced at Rs 94.08. In Chennai, petrol costs Rs 104.49 per litre and diesel Rs 96.11, while in Kolkata, petrol costs Rs 109.70 per litre and diesel Rs 96.07.