OREANDA-NEWS. March 2, 2011. The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri S. Jaipal Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that between 01.07.2010 and 21.02.2011, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have increased the price of Petrol only by 13.5% as against the rise in Petrol prices of 39% in the international market. He added that the Government had taken a decision to make price of Petrol market-determined, both at the refinery gate and at the retail level, effective 26.6.2010. Accordingly, the Public Sector OMCs increased the retail selling price (RSP) of Petrol by ` 3.50 per litre (at Delhi) on 26.6.2010, to bring it in line with the prevailing international parity price. As the international oil prices have been rising in the recent months, the OMCs have been revising the price of Petrol accordingly.

The Minister further said that since India imports about 80% of its crude oil requirements, the international oil prices necessarily have a bearing on the domestic prices of Petrol and other petroleum products. Subsequent to the decontrol of Petrol pricing, the OMCs take appropriate decision on the pricing of Petrol based on the conditions prevailing in the international and domestic markets for petroleum products. He added that the Government does not have any control on the international prices of crude oil and petroleum products, which are influenced by several factors. “The Government is, however, keeping a close watch on the prices of petroleum products to protect the interests of the consumers”, Shri Reddy emphasized.