Amid the ongoing war in West Asia, oil marketing companies on Friday hiked the premium petrol prices by up to Rs 2.35 per litre with immediate effect. The prices of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (BPCL) ‘Speed’, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (HPCL) ‘Power’, and Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s (IOCL) ‘XP95’ petrol have been increased by Rs 2.09 to Rs 2.35 per litre. However, there is no change in the price of regular petrol at present.
Meanwhile, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG), said that petrol and diesel prices are deregulated. However, regular petrol and diesel prices have not been increased, and only the price of premium petrol has been raised by over two rupees.
Largest supply disruption
The price hike comes amid escalating war in the Middle East. The war has triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries around 20 per cent of global oil consumption, reduced to a trickle.
Around 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products typically transit the Strait. The loss of these flows has tightened markets significantly, pushing crude oil prices well above USD 100 per barrel and driving even sharper increases in refined products such as diesel, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
IEA suggests carpooling
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested reducing highway speed limits by at least 10 km/h, switching to electric cooking, avoiding air travel where alternatives are possible and increasing car sharing to ease the economic impacts on consumers from oil market disruptions stemming from the Middle East war.
