[hrman]

Thus affirmed. Can we think of filing a PIL against the Government for keeping petrol prices so high? Can the lawyers on this forum comment? I suppose if we have a strong calculation base and reason, we can challenge the current price in court..

[WILDTHING]

Originally Posted by Sahil

I heard on the radio the other day that they plan to cut petrol prices by Rs.11 & Diesel by Rs.3 only!
If injustice like this keeps going on it will kill the diesel car market.

by this you mean this includes the recent cut as well or not ? u mean it will be rs. 39 now ? ill give u choclate if thats true. i have 3 petrol cars and 2 diesels. planning another petrol this year. i want cheaper fuel too.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by WILDTHING

by this you mean this includes the recent cut as well or not ? u mean it will be rs. 39 now ? ill give u choclate if thats true. i have 3 petrol cars and 2 diesels. planning another petrol this year. i want cheaper fuel too.

Well yes, that's what a radio channel mentioned. Sounds unrealistic and unjust.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

As Labor is cheap in India (To run the refinery) we should have had cheaper fuel price (Assuming both crude oil prices in US/India are same).

Labour costs are not a significant element of refining costs. Capital costs are. However, as noted by all, Indian prices now seem too expensive (US cost is perhaps Rs. 15-16/litre).

The Govt. is exhorting and cajoling others to cut prices, but plays politics with its own decisions, and does not practice what it preaches. Prices should definitely fall, but the accepted wisdom is in late Jan-Feb (before election announcement).

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Sahil I hope you are aware that Diesel is the fuel which is more heavily subsidized than Petrol any further reduction will be totally unfair for the guys using petrol as fuel.

Yes, if you notice the price movements of Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene and LPG over the last few years, we can see that government is utilizing each hike and drop of prices to reduce the subsidy component on all other fuels than Petrol. I remember some time back when petrol price was almost double of diesel and now its just about 35% higher.

[Porus]

My $0.02 gyan vaani

The Mumbai price of Petrol will be in region of Rs:50+ irrespective of any election/announcement/worldwide crisis/fuel movement/findings/studies/costs abroad/ < insert any favourite logic here >.

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Labour costs are not a significant element of refining costs. Capital costs are. However, as noted by all, Indian prices now seem too expensive (US cost is perhaps Rs. 15-16/litre).

The Govt. is exhorting and cajoling others to cut prices, but plays politics with its own decisions, and does not practice what it preaches. Prices should definitely fall, but the accepted wisdom is in late Jan-Feb (before election announcement).

Originally Posted by Sahil

Well yes, that's what a radio channel mentioned. Sounds unrealistic and unjust.

Chocolate prices will go higher so buy now. But you wont be able to distribute it as costs of fuel remain at 50+ as mentioned above.

Originally Posted by WILDTHING

by this you mean this includes the recent cut as well or not ? u mean it will be rs. 39 now ? ill give u choclate if thats true. i have 3 petrol cars and 2 diesels. planning another petrol this year. i want cheaper fuel too.

If you do fle a PIL AND subsequently manage to bring down petrol price to under 50 in mumbai ( refer above ) i will give you 2 chocolates.

Originally Posted by hrman

Thus affirmed. Can we think of filing a PIL against the Government for keeping petrol prices so high? Can the lawyers on this forum comment? I suppose if we have a strong calculation base and reason, we can challenge the current price in court..

[oss]

Originally Posted by Sahil

I heard on the radio the other day that they plan to cut petrol prices by Rs.11 & Diesel by Rs.3 only!
If injustice like this keeps going on it will kill the diesel car market.

Actually, the Govt is making a profit of around 11-13 rupees on per litre petrol and about 4-5 rupees on per litre of diesel.

The price cut expected is Rs.5/lit on petrol and Rs.2/lit on Diesel. may be if left protests, and election compulsions come into play, then we might see petrol prices being cut by only Rs.4/lit and Diesel cut by Rs.3/lit

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

This is already accounted for in crude oil price.



Not a equivalent comparison. A mass conversion of crude oil to petrol /Diesel is far less expensive per kg. Even as per US costs our fuel prices are way expensive. As Labor is cheap in India (To run the refinery) we should have had cheaper fuel price (Assuming both crude oil prices in US/India are same).

Well the crude production/exploration costs are covered. What is not covered are refining costs, shipping costs of the crude, distribution costs and retail costs.
Then again, the central and state levies form a good part of the retail price. As everyone in BLR feels when tanking up relative to say a Pondicherry:-(

On a separate note, its not easy for the govt to immediately reduce the prices of petrol, diesel et al with fall in crude prices since there is quite a bit of volatility in the latter. If crude prices increase, we all know from experience how difficult it is to increase retail prices due to political factors. Ideally, price should be revised every week or month (up or down). There is also the issue that the cost of crude depends on the contracts etc signed some period before - or in other words, the cost of fuel you get today in the pump is not based on crude price today in the oil markets.

Apart from the above, a few additional points to consider:
* US $ was < 40 Rs when oil prices were peaking. Today US $ > 48 Rs. So, its not telling the full picture when we say crude went from $140+ to $40.
* The oil marketing companies made huge losses even after the price increase (since the increase was quite inadequate at the higest crude prices). So, the govt is letting them recoup some of the losses
* The political factor (decrease as close to general elections).

While clamouring for lower prices is somewhat justified, its not as if the oil companies like IOC are earning a very high margin and robbing us. Infact, i read somewhere, that for a most state-of-art refiner like RIL (which also exports most of its oil), the margins for some of the fuels like petrol and kerosene are -ve, while others like ATF, diesel are +ve today.)

Cheers

[yogi1771]

Saw a ticker on NDTV,Murli Deora said that oil prices as well as lpg cost will be reduced in two weeks time.

[RakishRam]

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Saw a ticker on NDTV,Murli Deora said that oil prices as well as lpg cost will be reduced in two weeks time.

yes, here is the detailed link of that.

[rjvora_2000]

Originally Posted by RakishRam

yes, here is the detailed link of that.

Thank you very much for the link. - I think they are delaying this.

[ravibhat]

I think by this week end price would come down. Expected price cut 2/- on Diesel and 5/- on Petrol which is fair enough. If crude settles below $40 then price cut is needed which should be at least 10/- on Petrol and 5/- on Diesel.

Regards,

Ravi.

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

I think by this week end price would come down. Expected price cut 2/- on Diesel and 5/- on Petrol which is fair enough. If crude settles below $40 then price cut is needed which should be at least 10/- on Petrol and 5/- on Diesel.

Regards,

Ravi.

The UPA will take pro-people steps now that we are finally in the election year. They also know that they have to do it before the dates are announced.

I guess 5 for petrol and 2 for diesel is planned. Deora said on NDTV that price cut will be similar to the one in Dec.

[vasudeva]

World average crude oil prices averaged US$41.4/bbl in Dec-2008, their second lowest average in 4 years (4 year lowest=US$39.04/bbl in Dec 2004). Price right now in Delhi is Rs. 45.62/litre of petrol. In Dec 2004, it was 37.84/litre. Perhaps simplistic (given the absolute lack of transparency in India's politico/babu controlled pricing) but nevertheless put here.

[AirWind]

And I guess, the US$ was also trading similarly @ ~Rs.47 then!

Originally Posted by vasudeva

World average crude oil prices averaged US$41.4/bbl in Dec-2008, their second lowest average in 4 years (4 year lowest=US$39.04/bbl in Dec 2004). Price right now in Delhi is Rs. 45.62/litre of petrol. In Dec 2004, it was 37.84/litre. Perhaps simplistic (given the absolute lack of transparency in India's politico/babu controlled pricing) but nevertheless put here.