Petrol prices slipped below Rs 71-mark for the first time in eight months on Monday as India looks set to reap windfall from a price war among oil producers leading to international crude prices crashing by their biggest margin since the 1991 Gulf war.
International oil prices crashed by close to 31 per cent,the second-largest margin on record, after the disintegration of the OPEC+alliance triggered an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Brent futures plummeted to about USD 31 a barrel on Mondayas Goldman Sachs warned prices could drop to near USD 20.
For India, which imports over 84 per cent of its oil needs,the slump would lead to lower import bill and a cut in retail prices but willharm already stressed upstream firms such as ONGC. Lower oil prices will alsohelp economy from its 11-year low growth rate by way of reducing input cost fora lot of sectors.In Delhi, petrol prices dropped to Rs 70.59 alitre, the lowest since early July 2019, and diesel rate were cut to Rs 63.26,according to a price notification of state-owned firms.