Domestic crude oil basket rises $1.13 to $62.32/barrel

Domestic crude oil basket rose by $1.13 per barrel to $62.32 (Rs 2,780) per barrel on Friday as international prices continue to rule at above $63 a barrel, the petroleum and natural gas ministry said today.

Crude oil for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $63.43 per barrel from $63.13 Thursday.

Domestic crude oil basket prices have started rising just after the government announced a cut in petrol and diesel prices.

Petrol prices have been cut by Rs 2 per one litre and diesel by Re 1 per one litre. The new prices came into effect Thursday. This is the first cut in petroleum product prices in the last two years.

In June, oil marketing companies had raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 4 rupees per one litre and Rs 2 per one litre, respectively, as crude oil prices had increased to over $67 a barrel.

Despite the recent rise, the price of the Indian basket of crude oil is 17 per cent lower from its all time high of $75.20 per barrel on August 8.

On Friday, Brent crude closed at $63.47 a barrel, while the Dubai and Oman benchmarks were at $60.23 and $60.86, respectively.

The basket averaged at $57.80 per barrel in November.

In October, the basket had averaged $57.27 a barrel compared with September's $61.04 and August's $70.84.