Petrol, diesel price hike not 'ruled out'

Earlier this week, international crude prices reached a four-year high of $126 a barrel before slightly declining, but they stayed above $110 amid the restrictions imposed by the US and Iran on shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The sources said there was a possibility that the price of petrol and diesel would increase soon. In a statement released earlier in the day, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), speaking on behalf of the industry, stated that despite a rise in global energy costs, domestic LPG rates and the price of petrol and diesel would not be raised.

State-owned oil firms hiked the prices of commercial LPG, industrial diesel, 5-kg LPG and jet fuel sold to international airlines on Friday in keeping with the rising cost.

Analysts had earlier flagged the possibility of a fuel price hike of Rs 25-28 per litre after the end of the West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29.

The international oil prices spiked after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Tehran's sweeping retaliation that effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is one of the world's most critical energy arteries linking the Persian Gulf to global markets and handling roughly a fifth of global oil trade along with significant volumes of liquefied natural gas.

Last week, a senior oil ministry official told a news briefing that state-owned fuel retailers were incurring losses of about Rs 20 per litre on petrol and roughly Rs 100 per litre on diesel as pump prices remained frozen for nearly four years despite a surge in global oil prices. Yet, there was no plan to increase prices, she had said.