Petrol and diesel prices increased again on Monday, the sixth consecutive day of increase, as global oil prices failed to relent and continued to remain firm.
Accordingly, the pump price of petrol in Delhi increased by 35 paise per litre to jump to Rs 109.69 a litre while diesel prices also increased by the same margin to reach Rs 98.42 a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
In the financial capital Mumbai, petrol prices have now risen to Rs 115.50 per litre while diesel to Rs 106.63 a litre, the highest among all metros.
Across the country as well petrol and diesel prices increased between 35-40 paise per litre, but their retail rates varied depending on the level of local taxes on petroleum products.
The fuel prices have now increased six consecutive days by 35 paise per litre. Before this after holding for a couple of days, fuel prices again had risen on previous five days by about 35 paise per litre.
Diesel prices have now increased on 30 out of the last 38 days taking up its retail price by Rs 9.90 per litre in Delhi.
With diesel prices rising sharply, the fuel is now available at over Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country. It is very close to breaching the mark even in Delhi where it had rapidly climbed to Rs 98.42 a litre on Monday.
Petrol prices had maintained stability since September 5, but oil companies finally raised the pump prices last week and this week given a spurt in the product prices lately. Petrol prices have also risen on 27 of the previous 34 days taking up the pump price by Rs 8.50 per litre.
Crude price has been on a surge, rising over three year high level of over $ 85 a barrel now as global demand remains firm while OPEC+ continues to move slowly on increasing production. It has fallen a bit to around $84 a barrel after China released some oil from its reserve to address supply concerns.
Since September 5, when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around $9-10 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.
