Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said there was no question of going back on deregulation of fuel pricing despite the Government asking state-owned firms to subsidise petrol and diesel by Rs 1 per litre.
Speaking at The Energy Forum here, he said international oil prices touching a four-year high of $85 per barrel is a “challenge” that has resulted in fuel prices continuing to rise despite a one-off excise duty cut and public sector units (PSUs) subsidising fuel.
Pradhan said he had spoken to Saudi Oil Minister Khalid A Al-Falih and “reminded him of the June commitment of Opec to increase production by 1 million barrels per day” to help cool prices.
“Maybe Opec is not following the June decision,” he said. Pradhan said the decision to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each and ask oil PSUs to absorb another Rs 1-a-litre was aimed at “giving relief to consumers”.