Opec+ decision will hit demand recovery, hurt consumers

NEW DELHI: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday expressed disappointment over the Opec+ grouping’s decision to extend the current till April, a move that is likely to send fuel prices hurtling towards new records, with petrol hitting the Rs 100 per litre-mark in large parts of the country, unless taxes are reduced.
“I am disappointed. The decision will not be good for India and other Asian consumer countries such as South Korea and Japan. It will affect demand-led recovery. The decision (by Opec+) May help some of our (Opec) friends but consumers in India and other consumers countries will be affected,” Pradhan said.
“If this the way things remain the switch to alternatives will move faster,” he said.
Pradhan has been very vocal in demanding a rollback in the production cuts the Opec+ grouping had resorted in January to rebalance the market.