Petrol and Diesel Prices Today: Has closure of Strait of Hormuz affected fuel prices in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata? | Today’s news
Gasoline and diesel prices today: Fuel prices remained steady on Sunday, June 20, even as Brent crude rallied to trade around $80 a barrel following renewed fighting in Lebanon. Prices fell 8% this week after the Strait of Hormuz reopened, but traffic through the waterway appeared to weaken on Friday as Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants clashed in Lebanon.
Although the Strait of Hormuz is closed again, the price of gasoline and diesel remained in line with the last price revision that came on May 25. Last month, state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) made retail adjustments to pass on some of the burden of fluctuating global oil prices to consumers. Retail refineries realized a cumulative increase of approx ₹7.50 per liter in petrol and diesel prices due to severe underutilisation.
The first hike from ₹3 took place on May 15, marking the first increase in more than four years. This was followed by three more revisions in the next 10 days. The disruption of the energy supply chain due to the blockade across the Strait of Hormuz is the primary cause of oil price volatility. The center shielded consumers from inflation and fuel price pressures for the first 78 days of the war before passing some of the price shock on to itself.
Hardeep Singh Puri reacts to softer oil prices
Addressing a press conference in Sonbhadra on Saturday, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri noted that the increase in petrol and diesel prices in India is limited due to extreme volatility in global oil markets. “If we look at the situation in real terms, there has been no increase in petrol and diesel prices in the country,” PTI quoted Puri as saying.
On the relaxation of international oil prices, Puri said, “There are 193 countries in the United Nations and only Japan has seen a lower rise in oil prices than India.” He claimed that the total increase in petrol and diesel prices was limited to ₹7.60, comparing current fuel prices with those that prevailed during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that began in 2022, “actually there has been no increase.”
Referring to the recent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the West Asia war, the minister claimed that the government had ensured that the burden was not passed on to consumers even as oil companies suffered losses of around ₹1000 crore per day.
On the possibility of a rate cut on fuel prices, he said: “Currently, companies have oil stocks bought at higher prices. When the oil bought at lower prices reaches them, there is an opportunity to cut fuel prices.”
Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz again
Iran closed the trade route through the Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday after Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Iran said the “Strait of Hormuz will be closed to shipping” citing the “violation of the treaty” with the US and the “continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon by the Zionist regime”. An Iranian delegation has arrived in Switzerland for talks to end the war, while US Vice President JD Vance and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Asim Munir are en route.
US Central Command on Saturday confirmed the safe passage of 55 merchant ships through the strait, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil to world markets.
