OPEC gave a blow to the expectations of cheap petrol and diesel, crude oil prices rose by 10 percent in three days

Due to the huge fall in the prices of crude oil in the international market in March, the expectation that petrol and diesel will also become cheaper in the country has suffered a setback. OPEC, an organization of oil-producing countries, has suddenly taken a major decision and decided to cut the global production of crude oil by about 1.16 million barrels per day.

increase in the price of crude oil

Because of this, once again the trend of rising crude prices has become. Crude oil, which had reached the level of $75 per barrel last month, has now again risen to $84-85 per barrel. This move of OPEC countries can also affect the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

The MPC meeting under the chairmanship of the RBI governor started on Monday and its decision regarding interest rates will be announced on Thursday (April 06, 2023). The ongoing tug-of-war in global diplomacy is also responsible for this decision of OPEC.

America's effort - do not increase the prices of crude too much

OPEC's role in fixing crude oil prices was weakening since the time of the Corona epidemic. After the war in Ukraine, India, and China, the world's two biggest oil buyers, have started buying a lot of crude oil from Russia.

At the same time, efforts have been made by America and western countries that the prices of crude should not increase too much. They thought that if crude remains cheap in the international market, then Russia will also get a lower price. This is the reason why from July 2022 onwards, a continuous softening trend has been observed in the prices of crude oil.

OPEC drastically cut total production

Looking at India's purchase price from the international market, it was $ 116.09 per barrel in June 2022, but after that, it was $ 105.49 in July, $ 97.4 in August, $ 90.71 in September, $ 91.7 in October, $ 87.55 in November, 78.1 in December, $ 80.92 in January 2023, $ 82.28 in February 2023 and $ 78.5 per barrel in March. In such a situation, OPEC has planned to strengthen its position by drastically cutting the total production. This reduction in production will be applicable from May 2023 and will continue throughout the year.

Government oil companies did not change the prices

Let us tell that roughly when the price of crude increases by one dollar, then the retail price of petrol in the domestic market can increase by 50 paise per liter and diesel by 40 paise per liter. By the way, government oil companies have not made any change in the retail prices of petrol and diesel since April 06, 2022.

In May, the decision was taken by the government to reduce the excise duty, but it did not affect the retail prices. Last week, oil companies cut the prices of commercial LPG and ATF. Due to this, there was a possibility of a reduction in the retail prices of other petrochemical products.

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