Petrol and diesel prices today, October 24: Petrol and diesel prices remained steady across major cities today, with no revisions announced by oil marketing companies ().
The cost of fuel varies across states and cities due to local taxes (Value Added Tax or ), freight charges, and other localised factors.
While global oil prices have fluctuated amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the , domestic retail prices have remained unchanged.
Brent oil finished out the week at the highest level since April as intensifying attacks on Saudi Arabia added to supply concerns already stoked by the US-Iran war.
The global crude benchmark settled below $117 a barrel on Friday, up more than 6% this week, while West Texas Intermediate closed above $103. Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed recent attacks on the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, as well as deadly strikes on an oil field and airport in the kingdom.
The flareup threatens to widen hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz, where crude exports have recovered to near prewar levels. Oil traders have also been reluctant to hold short positions ahead of the weekend, when markets are closed. Several bullish options market dynamics are also reverberating through to futures.
At the White House on Thursday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that the US has “knocked” out Iran and threatened to go “a little bit further,” without elaborating. The New York Times reported this week that the US and Israel have developed plans for renewed strikes against the Islamic Republic after the American midterm elections early next month.
Brent is up more than 85% this year because of the US-Iran war, which is now approaching its ninth month. Refined-product prices have risen even faster, most notably diesel. More recently, however, flows through Hormuz have surged, weighing on physical markets even as futures climb.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
