Petrol, diesel Rates on August 16: Prices constant in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai; some cities see minor revision

Petrol and diesel prices on August 16: Indian oil marketing companies have kept the petrol and diesel prices constant in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai on Wednesday, August 16. There were minor tweaks in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Bihar.

In Delhi, petrol price stands at Rs 96.72 per litre, while diesel is being sold at Rs 89.62 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold for Rs 106.31 per litre, while diesel is available for Rs 94.27 per litre.

In Kolkata, the cost of petrol is Rs 106.03 per litre inclusive of taxes, diesel is available for Rs 92.76 per litre with taxes. In Chennai, petrol is available at Rs 102.63 per liter, while diesel can be obtained at Rs 94.24 per liter.

Fresh rate revision

In Bihar, petrol has become costlier by 33 paise and diesel by 33 paise on Wednesday. In Gujarat too, the prices (petrol and diesel) have fallen by 70 paise.

In Maharashtra, petrol has come down by 49 paise and diesel by 47 paise. The price of petrol and diesel has increased by 25 paise in West Bengal. In Rajasthan, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by 24 paise.

Here is the fresh price chart for major cities

Bengaluru

Petrol: Rs 101.94

Diesel: Rs 87.89

Chandigarh

Petrol: Rs 98.65

Diesel: Rs 88.95

Chennai

Petrol: Rs 102.86

Diesel: Rs 94.46

Gurugram

Petrol: Rs 97.04

Diesel: Rs 89.91

Kolkata

Petrol: Rs 106.03

Diesel: Rs 92.76

Lucknow

Petrol: Rs 96.43

Diesel: Rs 89.65

Mumbai

Petrol: Rs 106.31

Diesel: Rs 94.27

New Delhi

Petrol: Rs 96.72

Diesel: Rs 89.62

Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar)

Petrol: Rs 96.65

Diesel: Rs 89.82

Ghaziabad

Petrol: Rs 96.58

Diesel: Rs 89.75

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) have temporarily abandoned the daily price revision of petrol, diesel since last year. The fuel prices are calculated after adding on a number of levies and therefore, they differ from state to state. These levies are Value Added Tax (VAT), freight charges, local taxes, etc.

Last week, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Indian government has flagged concerns over volatility in the global oil prices to major oil producers and organisations. India, which is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, ships in over 80 per cent of its oil needs from overseas.

"Government has been taking up the issue, bilaterally, with crude oil producing countries, with OPEC and with heads of other international fora to convey India's serious concerns over crude oil price volatility," Puri said in a written reply submitted to parliament.

Crude oil prices

Oil prices held steady in early trading on Wednesday after a 1 per cent drop in the previous session. Crude oil on Tuesday settled up by 0.89 per cent amid concerns about China's faltering economic recovery and a stronger dollar. Weekly ending crude oil stocks in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 995,000 barrels last week to 347.75 million barrels, the biggest weekly increase since June 2020, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated.

"Crude oil prices were highly volatile and slipped from their highs following the disappointing Chinese economic data. Both Chinese industrial production and retail sales data were below expectations, while the Chinese unemployment rate also surged to 5.3 per cent . Disappointing Chinese economic data increased concerns about Chinese oil demand. We expect crude oil prices to remain volatile in today’s session. Crude oil has support at $79.50–78.70 and resistance is at $81.50–82.20 in today’s session. In INR Crude oil has support at Rs 6,720-6,630, while resistance is at Rs 6,890–6,970," said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd.