Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
Emphasising that price hikes in petrol and diesel were among the lowest in India during the current West Asian conflict, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday that a cut in the retail prices of the two auto fuels would be possible if international crude oil prices currently stay in the same level for the next few weeks.
Asked if the government will reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel, Puri said: “This would be a legitimate question if oil prices stay low for next few weeks.” On Thursday evening, Brent was at $70.91 per barrel, WIT at $67.83 and Murban at $64.33 a barrel.
The Minister highlighted that the government has shielded the consumer from full impact of the volatility in prices of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the conflict in West Asia, which is now considered as the largest disruption in energy in history.
“Instead of passing the increased costs on to consumers, the government absorbed the burden through the budget and the fiscal system,” he emphasised.
crude prices ease
Even as global crude prices have eased in recent weeks, the impact of the earlier surge is still being felt because refiners are processing crude purchased when prices were significantly higher, he added. India procures crude at least 45-50 days in advance. For instance, for July delivery, the crude oil would have been booked in May.
Detailing the losses suffered by the PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs), Puri informed that OMCs suffered a loss of around ₹74,781 crore till June 2026.
Similarly, the under recoveries of the PSU OMCs swelled to a whopping ₹2.18 lakh crore at the end of June 2026 due to the selling of petrol, diesel and LPG to consumers at below market rates to shield them for price volatility, he added.
On addressing similar situations and tackling price volatility, Puri explained: “My answer to that self-inflicted question is that I’m not worried about it, but I have to prepare for it. Stocking up [crude] as prices are low, increasing my storage space to intensifying our outreach to our bilateral partners, all that will go hand in hand,” Puri stated.
On increasing storage capacity, including strategic storages, the Minister said: “Maybe that’s one of the lessons we’ve learned. We have learned the lesson and we will try to increase storage.”
Published on July 2, 2026
