Petrol prices hit four-year high

Price of non-branded diesel was also reduced to Rs 68.80 per litre in New Delhi, Rs 71.35 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 73.25 in Mumbai and Rs 72.64 per litre in Chennai.

Average petrol prices hit 129.4p a litre, while average diesel prices also rose by 6p to 132.3p a litre.

Petrol price on Tuesday was cut by 13 paise to Rs 77.83 in Delhi.

After the one paisa reduction in fuel prices on May 30, which caused much criticism from the Opposition, prices have since fallen continuously. The main reason for the higher crude oil prices is the sustained production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

State-owned oil companies in June 2017, dumped the 15-year old practice of revising rates on 1st and 16th of every month and instead adopted a dynamic daily price revision to instantly reflect changes in cost.

Brent crude futures lost United States dollars $1.50 per barrel to settle at $75.29 per barrel.

The report found the greater range of prices suggested that a motorist's decision about where to buy petrol was more important than it was 10 years ago, but when it came to the effectiveness of the Territory's fuel price reporting scheme the praise was limited.

It pointed out that oil prices broke through the $80-a-barrel mark twice in May - a three-and-a-half year high. In real terms, average prices in the March quarter 2018 were the highest since the September quarter 2015 (138.5 cpl). India imports over 80 per cent of its crude oil requirement and it is the world's third largest oil importer.

"The pump price should fall around 3 cents a litre to around $1.50 a litre in the next fortnight", CommSec chief economist Craig James said.