Petrol, Diesel Rates Unchanged For The 14th Straight Day Amid Lockdown

Fuel prices in India remain unchanged by state-owned oil marketing companies on Monday even as crude oil benchmarks continue their free fall.

Amid the lockdown across India, petrol price per litre stood at Rs 69.59 in New Delhi, Rs 72.29 in Kolkata, Rs 75.30 in Mumbai and Rs 72.28 in Chennai. Diesel price per litre remained at Rs 62.29 in New Delhi, Rs 64.62 in Kolkata, Rs 65.21 in Mumbai and Rs 65.71 in Chennai.

International oil prices continued their losses for the sixth consecutive week and fell below $20 a barrel on Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened over the weekend and the Saudi Arabia-Russia price war showed no signs of abating.

Crude oil benchmark US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures hit a low of $19.92 a barrel in early trade on Monday while Brent futures fell 5.6 percent or $1.40, to $23.53 a barrel.

The oil markets are currently enduring a twin shock of demand destruction from minimal economic activity amid the coronavirus pandemic and the Saudi-Russia price war that is flooding markets with extra supply.

Around 32,000 people have died and more than 500,000 infected worldwide from the deadly disease that has brought the worldwide aviation industry to a standstill and put roughly 3 billion people on lockdown to limit the spread of the virus.

With the big demand shock from the outbreak, experts expect global storages to fill up in a couple of months if there are no changes in the situation, dragging prices lower.

The 21-day lockdown in India has caused state-owned IOC (Indian Oil Corp) to reduce its crude processing by 30 to 40 percent and shut its naphtha cracker plant in northern India "to avoid tank top-up situation," a Reuters report said.

Similarly, Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has already shut a third of its 3 lakh BPD (barrels per day) refining capacity and is preparing to shut the remainder this week as demand slumped, the report said.

The nationwide lockdown that has shut businesses, suspended flights, stopped trains and brought most vehicular movement to a halt, has impacted fuel demand with petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) showing negative growth (degrowth or fall in demand).

"LPG consumption, however, continues to grow and we are servicing all customers," said IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh to PTI last week, adding that refill demand saw more than 200 percent jump after the lockdown was announced.