Vikrant Shekhawat : Nov 03, 2022, 08:26 AM
Petrol-Diesel Price: Petrol-Diesel prices have remained at the same level for more than five months. During this, the prices of crude oil also fell to record levels, but no change was seen in petrol and diesel in the domestic market. In the last few days, all the media reports had talked about a reduction in the price of oil by up to 40 paise per liter from November 1. Sources also claimed that petrol and diesel will soon be cut by Rs 2 a liter and it will be implemented in different phases. But people were shocked when there was no change in the rate of petrol and diesel from November 1.Significant losses occurred during the Russo-Ukraine WarNow Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the public sector petroleum companies are still incurring a loss of Rs 4 per liter on diesel. He also said that the margins of companies on petrol have turned positive. Puri was asked about the reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel after the softening of crude oil prices in the international market. He said state oil companies have suffered a lot during the Russo-Ukraine war.Assistance will be sought for damagesUnion Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that his ministry will seek assistance for losses incurred by three retail fuel vendors - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). These companies did not increase the prices of petrol and diesel to help the government deal with inflation, while the Russo-Ukraine war had made crude oil very expensive in the international market.Losses of more than 19,000 croresWhen asked about the reduction in prices, he said, "Oil marketing companies (OMCs) still have losses on diesel." Currently, the loss on diesel is around Rs 27 per liter, but the actual cash loss is around Rs 3-4 per litre. All the three fuel retailers have incurred a net loss of over Rs 19,000 crore in the April-June quarter. It is estimated that these companies will also suffer losses in the September quarter.