Fuel price relief proves short-lived

COST OF PETROL, DIESEL DOWN BY 1 PAISA AND NOT 60 PAISE, AUTHORITIES CONFIRM

Petrol and diesel prices were yesterday cut by 1 paisa per litre each, the first reduction after 16 days of relentless price hikes.

But the marginal decline had its share of excitement with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) first announcing a reduction of 60 paise — the biggest since daily price revision was introduced in midJune last year, only to retract it within a couple of hours citing a technical error.

The oil companies yesterday morning announced reduction in petrol price by 60 paise to Rs77.83 (Dh4.23) a litre and diesel by 56 paise to Rs68.75 in Delhi. This was rectified to 1 paisa a litre.

“The reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error the price prevalent on May 25 was communicated as today’s price,” a senior official of Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer, explained.

Further fall in coming days

After the 1 paisa cut, petrol in Delhi now costs Rs78.42 per litre and diesel Rs69.30.

“There is a softening in international oil prices and rupee has strengthened against the US dollar, making imports cheaper. All this will reflect in reduction in retail rates in coming days,” he said.

Oil companies use 15-day rolling average of Singapore gasoline prices and Arab Gulf diesel prices to arrive at daily rates and so the fall in international oil rates seen in the last few days would be factored in for the revisions in the coming days, he said.