‘Govt may reduce petrol diesel prices around Dussehra’:It takes 70-80 days for petrol pump owners to pass on benefit of fall in international oil prices, says expert

The prices of crude oil in the global market on Thursday have reached the same level as they were before the Iran war. Benchmark Brent Crude Oil has come down to $72 per barrel. This is the same price ($72.29) that it was on February 27, one day before the war started. After the agreement between the US and Iran on June 17, following peace talks in Switzerland, America partially lifted sanctions on Iranian oil exports. After this, the number of ships passing through the Hormuz route has started increasing. Since Monday, about 80 ships have passed through this Hormuz. However, this number is less than the more than 100 ships per day before the war. However, despite crude oil becoming cheaper, prices at petrol pumps may only reduce until Dussehra. Companies may first compensate for their losses How much hope is there for relief in petroleum prices? According to energy expert Narendra Taneja, the crude oil used to prepare products like petrol and diesel that we are currently buying was purchased when its price in the international market was around $110 per barrel. For Indian refineries, this was around $125 per barrel. When will petrol and diesel made from $72 crude reach the pumps? It will take about two and a half months. It will take 15-20 days for oil at current prices to be loaded onto ships at the ports of source countries. It will take 55-60 days for them to reach Indian ports. From there, it will also take time to reach the refinery and then the petrol pumps. This entire cycle takes 75-80 days. So will prices reduce immediately after two and a half months? This is less likely. Currently, oil marketing companies are facing a loss of about ₹7.5 per liter on petrol-diesel. The government had also reduced excise duty by ₹10 per liter. This can be compensated for a few days. Only after that is there a possibility of petrol and diesel prices coming down. When can relief be expected? Petrol and diesel prices will start coming down around Dussehra. We can also hope that some relief will start coming by the end of August or the beginning of September. Will crude oil prices increase again? I don’t think crude oil prices will increase in the near future. Such apprehension is now very low.