New Delhi: Continuing its northward march petrol climbed up to Rs 79.99 from Thursday's Rs 79.51 per litre and diesel notched up to Rs 72.07 from Rs 71.55 per litre in the national capital breaking all previous record highs.
The petrol price surged by 48 paisa on Friday and 20 paisa on Thursday in the capital. Except for a deep breath on Wednesday, fuel prices have risen continuously for 11 days till Friday.
In Mumbai petrol prices shot up to Rs 87.39 from Rs 86.9. In the Kerala capital of Thiruvananthapuram petrol prices soared to Rs 83.30 from Thursday's Rs 82.67 and diesel rose to Rs 77.23.
At Ernakulam the prices shot up to Rs 82. 92 and diesel perched at Rs 75. 98. At Kozhikode prices shot up to Rs 82.31 for petrol and Rs 76.27 for diesel. At Wayanad and Kannur petrol was priced at Rs 82.92 and Rs 82.25 respectively.
The surge in fuel prices is largely attributed to the rise in crude oil prices and high excise duty in the country.
The recent slump in the rupee has also lifted the import cost of crude oil, subsequently affecting the fuel prices.
Crude is not a disciplined graph, says Jaitley
On Wednesday, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that there was no need for a 'knee jerk' reaction to the rising prices of global crude oil.
"These are not situations which merit knee-jerk and panic reaction. There is no straight-line movement in global oil prices," Jaitley said and added that crude oil prices edged higher in April and May whereas they calmed down in June and July.
However, since the start of the calendar year, petrol price in Delhi has gone up by 13.6 per cent from Rs 69.97 on January 1, 2018. The hike in diesel price has been even more steep. It has gone up by 19.8 per cent since January 1, 2018 when it was Rs 59.70.
Recently, geo-political factors such as trade war fears, upcoming Iran sanctions and conflicts in Middle East along with supply side constraints have led to a sharp increase in global crude oil prices.
The rise in global crude oil prices pushes the domestic cost of petrol and diesel higher as the country is a net importer of crude oil.
