The price of petrol per litre in Mumbai today – at Rs 91.56 – has gone past the previous all-time high of Rs 91.34 a litre that was recorded on October 4, 2018. Diesel too has not been spared and is priced today at a record Rs 81.87 a litre. In the national capital the price of petrol stood at Rs 84.95 per litre with diesel costing Rs 75.13 per litre.

• Petrol prices hiked by 24 paise per litre
• Petrol, diesel prices in Delhi stand at Rs 84.95 and Rs 75.13 per litre, respectively
• Prices hiked by 73 paise and 80 paise per litre for petrol and diesel respectively in last 12 days

The first fossil fuel price rises in 2021 happened on January 6-7, followed by five days of ‘rest’ – no revision of prices – and two days of increase on January 13-14. On January 14, petrol price was hiked to Rs 91.32, just 2 paise shy of the October 4, 2014, record high. That has been breached by today's hike of 24 paise a litre.

Over the past 12 days, petrol price has risen by 73 paise a litre and that of diesel by 80 paise a litre. The price difference between the two fuels is now Rs 9.69 a litre. 

For most of December 2020, there were scarcely any price hikes in fossil fuels and there was a 27-day relief for motorists as oil marketing companies kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged. There has been a speedy rise in crude oil prices and Brent crude is today trading at USD 55.42 a barrel, down USD 1.77 from January 14’s  USD 57.19 a barrel.

Around end-November 2020, a barrel of crude was USD 44.48, more than twice the two-decade low when prices had dived to under USD 20 a barrel in April 2020. However, the Indian motorist never got the benefit of lower prices even when global crude oil prices had plunged. Now, with global oil prices firming, expect a regular rise.

Like the stock markets, crude oil prices react to a number of variables, including supply and demand, economic news and crises like COVID-19. As countries lift lockdowns and return to manufacturing operations, the need for transport operations, particularly as nations race to deliver critical COVID-19 vaccine, the demand for crude oil has risen and resultantly the price.

Indian Oil to expand high octane petrol availability

Petrol prices 2 paise short of all-time high at Rs 91.32 a litre in Mumbai