New Delhi: The prices of petrol and diesel on Friday (February 21) remained unchanged for the third successive day across the country. In Delhi, a litre of petrol today costs Rs 71.89 while diesel costs Rs 64.65 per litre, no change compared with Thursday’s price. Since Wednesday, global benchmark Brent crude oil prices have risen due to several factors, including a fall in new coronavirus cases in China’s Hubei province and Beijing's efforts to boost its economy but fuel rates not been touched during the past three days.
It is worth noting that local prices of fuel are the cheapest in New Delhi among all metros and most state capitals due to lower taxes. So far this month, petrol prices fell by Rs 1.30 a litre and diesel by Rs 1.57 in the national capital.
Rupee vs dollar
As per the daily pricing mechanism, the prices of fuel in India are dependent on the global crude prices and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate as India imports around 80 per cent of its crude requirements. On Thursday, the Indian slid by 10 paise to close at 71.64 against the US dollar due to heavy selling in domestic equities and strengthening of the American currency in the foreign market.
Rates in top cities
In Mumbai, people have to shell out Rs 77.56 for a litre of petrol while diesel costs Rs 67.75 per litre, as per data available with Indian Oil Corp website. Likewise, in Chennai, petrol and diesel are selling for Rs 74.68 a litre and Rs 68.27 per litre respectively, no change in prices against Thursday’s rates.
If you are in Kolkata, you will have to pay Rs 74.53 for a litre of petrol and Rs 66.97 for diesel, no change in prices against yesterday's rates. In Noida, the petrol price remained stagnant at Rs 73.82 a litre and diesel costs Rs 64.97 per litre. In Gurugram, too, petrol, diesel prices remained stable at Rs 72 a litre and Rs 64.08 per litre, respectively.
Brent crude
On Friday, in the international market, crude oil prices declined amid concerns over fuel demand increasing as the coronavirus outbreak spread further beyond China— the world’s biggest importer of crude. Also, major crude producers are ready to slash output to boost the market. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 59.07 per barrel, down 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, from their last close. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by 25 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to USD 53.63 per barrel.
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