NEW DELHI: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday raised hopes of the government cutting excise duty to soften the impact of oil prices as petrol and diesel prices hit historic highs on Sunday with state-run fuel retailers racing to catch up with current market rates after freezing pump prices for 19 days ahead of the Karnataka election.
The minister blamed "the unilateral decision of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce production, political instability in Venezuela and the prospect of US sanctions against Iran" for the steady rise in fuel prices. Last week, global benchmark Brent hit $80/barrel, the highest since November, 2014.
Pradhan’s statement came in the backdrop of petrol price touching a record high of Rs 76.24 per litre, rising 33 paise in Delhi – the reference market – to mark the steepest increase since the retailers adopted the system of daily price revision in June, 2017. The price of Diesel rose by 26 paisa to Rs 67.57 a litre, an all-time high.
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