India urges oil producers to ease output cuts as crude prices soar
NEW DELHI : New Delhi: Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday urged crude oil-producing nations to do a rethink on ongoing production cuts, at a time petrol and diesel are retailing at record high prices in India. The rising oil prices during the last few weeks are now threatening a fragile global economic recovery, Pradhan said.
The Indian basket of crude, which comprises Oman, Dubai and Brent crude, was at $62.64 a barrel on 16 February. Global crude prices have been rallying after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)-plus grouping decided to continue with supply curbs. This has impacted India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, as Opec makes up for about 40% of global output and 83% of the country’s oil imports.
“The price-sensitive Indian consumers are getting adversely affected by rising petroleum product prices. It also affects demand growth, which could potentially impact the delicate aspirational economic growth trajectory not just in India but in other developing countries as well,” Pradhan said at the 11th IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium, according to a petroleum and natural gas ministry statement.
