India’s average crude oil import price has surged to nearly $100 a barrel, marking its highest level in three months. This increase comes amid renewed volatility in global oil markets. Concurrently, consumption of essential fuels such as petrol and diesel has also seen a rise, according to recent data from government and industry sources.
PPAC, the petroleum ministry’s data keeper, publishes data on the Indian basket with a lag. The basket represents an average of the various grades of crude imported by Indian refiners , including Brent, Oman and Dubai. The price of the Indian crude basket was $99.35 a barrel on Wednesday, according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), and is expected to cross the $100-mark by Friday amid renewed hostilities between the US and Iran, industry experts said. India imports more than 88% of the crude oil it processes. However, retail petrol and diesel prices have largely been insulated from extreme international price volatility, with state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), which control more than 90% of the country’s 103,023 petrol pumps , keeping pump prices largely unchanged.
