Virus impact: Crude fall to bring smaller oil import bill for India; dip likely to sustain

NEW DELHI: India’s oil import bill is expected to shrink sharper than previously estimated 6% as the increasing spread of Covid-19 across the globe has depressed crude oil prices to below $50 a barrel, industry insiders said.

The oil ministry’s petroleum planning and analysis cell had estimated that crude oil import bill would decline 6% to $105 billion, or Rs. 7,43,900 crore, in 2019-20 from $112 billion, or Rs. 7,83,200 crore in the previous year. This is based on actual average price of $64/barrel for April-December and an assumed price of $66/barrel for January-March on an average exchange rate of Rs. 71 to a dollar.

However, since the beginning of 2020, crude oil prices have contracted by a quarter from $66 a barrel to under $50 a barrel on Friday.