Jet fuel rates cut sharply by 12.5%, Jet Airways, SpiceJet stocks rise

Jet fuel (ATF) rates were on Thursday slashed by a steep 12.5 per cent, the sixth straight reduction in prices since August, as international oil prices slumped to five-year low levels.

The stocks of Jet Airways and SpiceJet rose 5.82 per cent and 4.65 per cent, respectively on the  BSE.

The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, at Delhi was cut by Rs 7,520.52 per kilolitre, or 12.5 per cent, to Rs 52,422.92 per kl, oil companies announced on Thursday.

This is the possibly the steepest cut in rates since ATF pricing was deregulated or freed in April 2002.

The cut, effective Thursday, is the sixth reduction in jet fuel rates since August. The price was last cut by 4.1 per cent, or Rs 2,594.93 per kl, on December 1.

Brent crude, a pricing benchmark for more than half of the world's oil, sank 48 per cent in 2014 as US producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ceded no ground in their battle for market share amid a supply glut.

Brent fell to $57.33 a barrel, the lowest since May 2009.

ATF rates now are at their lowest level since February 2011. Jet fuel prices had hit an all-time high of Rs 76,241.33 per kl in January but have since then receeded.

In Mumbai, jet fuel will cost Rs 53,861.58 per kl from Thursday as against Rs 61,695.45 per kl previously. The rates vary because of differences in local sales tax or VAT.

Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline's operating costs and the price cut will ease the financial burden of cash-strapped carriers.

No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price cut on passenger fares.

State-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) revise jet fuel prices on 1st of every month based on average imported cost and rupee-US exchange rate.