The fall in crude oil prices has raised hopes of some relief from inflation. Oil prices fell 2% in early trade on Thursday, adding to the losses. Investors worried that aggressive US interest rate hikes could trigger a recession and fuel demand.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell $2.39, or 2.3%, to $103.80 a barrel by 0031 GMT. Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell $2.24, or 2.0%, to $109.50 a barrel. Both benchmarks fell nearly 3% on Wednesday to their lowest levels since mid-May.
The price of Brent crude has come down below $110 per barrel. WTI crude prices also declined. There has been some respite from the softening of crude oil prices. However, the US has expressed apprehensions that India and China are buying more oil than Russia. It is because of this that there has been a decline. Earlier this month, WTI crude prices had risen above $122 a barrel. With the fall in its prices, the expectation of a fall in the prices of petrol and diesel has also increased.
Investors are assessing how concerned they should be about central banks potentially pushing the world economy into recession as they try to contain inflation with interest rate hikes. “Oil markets remained under pressure as investors were concerned that a hike in US rates would stall the economic recovery and reduce fuel demand,” experts say. WTI could fall below $100 a barrel before the July 4 holiday in the United States, he said.
At present, there is no change in the price of petrol in the capital Delhi. On Thursday also it stood at Rs 96.72 per liter, while diesel is being sold at Rs 89.62 per litre. Petrol in Mumbai is Rs 111.35 per liter and diesel Rs 97.28 per liter. Recently, when the war between Russia-Ukraine started, then the prices of petrol and diesel in the country had become very high.