Fuel Prices on April 5: Petrol, diesel rates unchanged across major cities

Fuel Prices on April 5

Petrol and diesel prices held steady across metro cities on April 5, the latest price notification issued by fuel retailers showed.

In Chennai, prices of petrol and diesel stands at Rs 102.63/litre and Rs 94.24/litre, respectively, while in Kolkata both fuels are priced at Rs 106.03/litre and Rs 92.76/litre, respectively.

In another news, oil prices rose on April 5, boosted by expectations of U.S. crude inventory declines as well as the latest output cut targets set by the OPEC+ producer alliance.

Brent crude futures gained 45 cents, or 0.5 percent, to USD 85.39 a barrel by 0352 GMT. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude was up 40 cents, or 0.5 percent, to USD 81.11 a barrel.

The rises came as an industry report showed U.S. crude stocks fell by about 4.3 million barrels in the week ended March 31. The official inventory report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 1430 GMT on April 5.

Also Read | OPEC+ move to slash production opens door to battle over Asia’s oil demand

Continuing to add support were the latest targets to reduce supplies set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.

"Energy traders are still digesting the OPEC+ surprise production cut and any news that suggests the oil market will remain even tighter is going to send prices even higher," said Edward Moya, an analyst at OANDA.

The OPEC+ plan would bring the total volume of cuts by the group to 3.66 million barrels per day (bpd), including a 2 million bpd cut last October, equal to about 3.7 percent of global demand.

In Asia, data showed Japan's service sector grew in March at the fastest rate in more than nine years.

However, weak manufacturing activity in the U.S. and China - the two biggest oil consumers - have kept oil prices from moving up further, despite the prospect of tighter supply following the OPEC+ cuts.

(With Inputs from Reuters)