Petrol Prices, Diesel Prices March 2026: Will Crude Oil Prices Surge Push OMCs To Hike Fuel Prices In India?

Petrol and diesel prices in India are in focus as the war in the Middle East triggers havoc in the Red Sea, halting global oil and gas supply at the Strait of Hormuz. This has threatened a global economic crisis and inflationary pressure as crude oil prices spike sharply, which is a key indicator when deciding fuel prices for oil marketing companies (OMCs). The Indian oil companies are also expected to be impacted by the oil surge and the chance of that pressure being passed on to consumers is high.

Simply put, a crude oil price rally is likely to lead to a hike in fuel prices by OMCs like Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL.

Petrol Prices In India:

On March 6th, petrol prices in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad surged mildly. But Patna city saw the most increase in petrol price to by Rs 69 paise. This is the second consecutive surge in petrol price in Patna.

Meanwhile, petrol price dipped slightly in Mumbai to Rs 103.50 per litre. In cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram is above Rs 100 per litre. The most expensive petrol is of Rs 107.50 per litre in Hyderabad among the major metro cities.

But petrol is cheaper in Chandigarh to Rs 94.30 per litre followed by Rs 94.69 per litre in Lucknow and Rs 94.77 per litre in Delhi. Check latest petrol prices in metro cities:

City	Petrol Price	Price Change
New Delhi	₹94.77	0.00
Kolkata	₹105.41	0.00
Mumbai	₹103.50	-0.04
Chennai	₹100.90	+0.10
Gurgaon	₹95.57	+0.06
Noida	₹94.90	+0.13
Bangalore	₹102.96	+0.04
Bhubaneswar	₹101.19	0.00
Chandigarh	₹94.30	0.00
Hyderabad	₹107.50	+0.04
Jaipur	₹105.11	0.00
Lucknow	₹94.69	0.00
Patna	₹106.12	+0.69
Thiruvananthapuram	₹107.48	0.00

Diesel Prices In India:

Meanwhile, diesel price in India has surged significantly in cities like Chennai, Gurgaon, Bhubaneswar, Noida, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

Diesel price is above Rs 95 per litre in cities like Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. While Patna, where diesel increased the most by Rs 0.65 is at Rs 92.32 per litre. In Mumbai, diesel is priced at Rs 90.03 per litre which is unchanged from the previous day. Diesel is cheapest in Delhi to Rs 87.67 per litre, which is also same as yesterday. Check latest diesel prices in metro cities:

City	Price	Price Change
New Delhi	₹87.67	0.00
Kolkata	₹92.02	0.00
Mumbai	₹90.03	0.00
Chennai	₹92.49	+0.10
Gurgaon	₹88.03	+0.05
Noida	₹88.01	+0.12
Bangalore	₹90.99	0.00
Bhubaneswar	₹92.77	+0.01
Chandigarh	₹82.45	0.00
Hyderabad	₹95.70	0.00
Jaipur	₹90.56	0.00
Lucknow	₹87.81	0.00
Patna	₹92.32	+0.65
Thiruvananthapuram	₹96.48	+0.10

Why Fuel Prices Could Rise Ahead?

According to analysts at Emkay Global, the likely spike in crude prices will hurt macro-financial stability by putting pressure on the currency, current account deficit ($10/bbl increase in crude = 0.5% CAD/GDP spike), and domestic inflation.

As the tightness spills over to petchems and commodities, these analysts are predicting corporate margins to take a hit.

If the oil prices stay elevated, these analysts are predicting hike of Rs 0.52 in petrol price and Rs 0.55 in diesel per litre by OMCs. But they also believe excise duty could be cut by Rs 1 per litre to curb OMCs.

In Sumit Pokharna, VP Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities' opinion, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH), warning that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway would be targeted. This is a material global risk event. Approximately 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil and ~86 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG pass through the SoH, representing ~27% of global oil trade and ~20% of global LNG trade.

While physical crude volumes may be sustained through alternate sourcing, still as per Pokharna, the cost structure will deteriorate sharply:

- Higher crude procurement prices

- Elevated freight and insurance costs

- Longer shipping routes

With retail fuel prices effectively frozen, higher feedstock and logistics costs will compress marketing margins. Earnings visibility weakens meaningfully under this scenario, as per the analyst.

Crude Oil Prices:

On March 6th, US WTI crude futures rose by nearly 5% and traded near $85 per dollar, and is likely to record its biggest weekly gains since 2022. Meanwhile, Brent Crude soared nearly 3% to trade around $88 per ounce, and is set to see similar multi-year high weekly gains.

As per Alan Gelder, SVP of Refining, Chemicals and Oil Markets at Wood Mackenzie, higher oil and gas prices are certain as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatens to disrupt 15% of global oil supply and 20% of global LNG supply, with oil prices potentially exceeding $100/bbl if tanker flows are not quickly restored.

Following US and Israeli attacks on Iranian government, military and nuclear facilities, Iran warned shipping away from the waterway and insurers withdrew coverage, effectively halting tanker traffic.