Govt Rules Out Fuel Price...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[The government on Wednesday ruled out an immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices following softening of global crude prices saying the domestic rates were still pegged at roughly half of the current international prices. &quot;There is no question about thinking of a downward revision of prices. Our existing retail prices are pegged at $68 per barrel and at this juncture there is no scope for a reduction,&quot; said S Sunderasan, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Global crude oil prices have eased from the highs of USD 147 per barrel to USD 117.75 a barrel in the past three weeks. &quot;When in June we raised (petrol price by Rs 5 per litre, diesel by Rs 3 a litre and domestic LPG by Rs 50 per cylinder) the Indian basket of crude oil was at $119-120 per barrel. Yesterday, it eased to $116.90 a barrel,&quot; he said. The fall in international prices will help cut down on the projected revenue loss. At the time of June 5 increase in fuel prices, the revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene was put at Rs 2,46,600 crore for the full year. However, even after the price increase and cut in customs and excise duties, the revenue loss of Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum is pegged at Rs 2,05,740 crore. &quot;The under-realisation on fuel sales in 2007-08, when Indian basket averaged USD 79.25 per barrel, was over Rs 77,000 crore. So, there is no question of a downward revision now,&quot; Sunderasan said. Fuel retailers are currently selling petrol at a loss of Rs 11.60 a litre, diesel at Rs 23.23 per litre, kerosene at Rs 39.55 per litre and Rs 348.89 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder. The three retailers are currently losing Rs 600 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene. IOC alone is losing Rs 18 crore per day on petrol, Rs 195 crore on diesel, Rs 80 crore on kerosene and Rs 36 crore per day on domestic LPG. Sunderasan said of the projected revenue loss, upstream firms ONGC, OIL and GAIL will chip in Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore would be borne by the retailers. &quot;If crude prices are coming down, the upside (in revenues) for ONGC will also decline. We have to see that. In any case, their share cannot be raised beyond Rs 45,000 crore. For the first quarter, we had proportioned their share going by that figure,&quot; he said. The government will issue oil bonds to IOC, BPCL and HPCL for the remainder of the revenue under-realisation. &quot;In June, the oil bonds were pegged at Rs 94,000 Correy. We will be closely working with Ministry of Finance to determine the actual numbers,&quot; he said. (PTI)