Petrol, diesel prices to cost more as crude oil hits 28-month high

New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices are likely to rise further in the coming days due to sharp rise in crude oil prices globally.

Petrol prices were hiked by 11 paise and diesel prices by 10 paise per litre effective 6 am Tuesday. Petrol currently costs Rs 69.80 per litre in Delhi while a litre of diesel is priced at Rs 58.26 per litre.

The international crude oil price of the Indian basket rose to USD 59.61 per barrel on Friday.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 3849.43 per barrel on November 3 as compared to Rs 3815.80 per barrel on November 2, an official press release said.

Globally, oil prices rose 3.5 percent on Monday, hitting the highest since early July 2015, as Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power with an anti-corruption crackdown, while the US rig count fell and markets continued to tighten.

Brent crude futures settled up USD 2.20, or 3.5 percent, to USD 64.27 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose USD 1.71, or 3 percent, to USD 57.35 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were at their highest since early July 2015.

Bowing to public pressure, the government had last month cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre to moderate the relentless rise in fuel prices witnessed for the last three months.

India’s fuel demand surged 9.9 percent in September, the biggest expansion in more than one year, after petrol and diesel consumption soared.

The world’s fastest growing oil consumer used 16.25 million tonnes of petroleum products in September as compared to 14.78 MT in the same period a year ago, according to data released by the oil ministry.