NEW DELHI: Galloping fuel prices may have hit the end of the line for the time being as global oil prices dropping below $100 per barrel has eased the pressure on fuel retailers by shrinking under-recoveries, sources told TOI.
“There was a threshold (for increase in the prices), based on the assumption of a certain (oil) price point. Whatever had to be done has been done. At current levels of reference (crude) rates, I don’t see more hikes. At least not in a sharp upward curve. The market remains volatile and the dollar is getting stronger. Nobody knows where crude will be headed,” a senior executive of one oil marketing company familiar with the matter said.
The signs are already there. Petrol and diesel prices have not been revised since April 7 after India’s crude cost slid to $97.59 per barrel on April 7, a 24% drop from $128-plus reached in mid-March. Fuel prices were last raised by 80 paise per litre on April 6, marking the 14th increase in 16 days that made motor fuels costlier by Rs 10 a litre.
