Fuel prices make new record as crude edges up again

NEW DELHI: Fuel prices flared up again on cue from international crude Tuesday, with petrol price hitting a new high in Delhi at Rs 85.20 and diesel making a record in Mumbai at Rs 82.13. But the government blamed “lower production by oil exporting countries due to Covid-19 pandemic”, deflecting attention from the fact that high taxes are amping up the impact of rising crude prices.
In Delhi, diesel was seven paise below the October 4, 2018 record of Rs 75.45. In Mumbai, petrol climbed to Rs 91.80 a litre as international oil prices edged up to $54.92 a barrel on news of China refinery output rising 3% and optimism over US president-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic package.
Crude prices were also buoyed by expectations of Saudi Arabia’s additional supply cuts in the next two months would draw down global inventories by more than a million barrels a day in the Jan-March period.