Time to keep an eye on petrol-diesel prices
Any war in the Gulf region would have a direct impact on the supply of crude oil worldwide.
Any war in the Gulf region has a direct impact on the supply of crude oil worldwide. This causes the prices of crude oil to rise sharply, which has a negative impact on the economies of every country, rich or poor, that has been buying crude oil from the Gulf countries for their needs. This impact is greater on the poor countries, while the rich are less affected because they are in a relatively better position to tolerate such economic manipulation.
The same phenomenon is happening now. Iran has shown the ability to withstand the wrath of the joint attack by Israel and America. Despite the killing of the top leadership, that country has not yet shown the spirit of kneeling. Therefore, the possibility of an immediate end to this war is not visible at the moment. Due to this, the prices of crude oil have increased by around 24 percent in the global market. This has increased the concern in all the other countries except America, Israel and Russia.
America has vast oil reserves. Now it also holds the key to Venezuela's oil reserves. Israel is its war ally. It cannot afford to run out of oil. Russia has reserves similar to America's. In the event of oil supply disruptions from the Persian Gulf, China, India and other Asian countries turn to Russian oil; that too despite economic sanctions imposed by the US and European countries. This is the reason why Russian oil prices have increased by 17 percent. In such a situation, it should be hoped that the world will not have to witness a repeat of the history of 2006.
In July 2006, Iran tested the 'Shabab-3' missile. This missile was supposed to hit a distance of two thousand kilometers. This meant that Iran was capable of directly hitting Israel. Due to the threat of war arising from this test, within just four days, the price of crude oil in the global market reached $ 147 per barrel. Currently, it is $ 78 per barrel. Last year, it had dropped to $ 47 per barrel at one point. The prices of $ 75-78 were maintained for a long time even in the year 2024. These prices did not pose a big challenge to the stability of the economy of countries like India. During that calendar year, India's retail inflation rate did not cross the mark of more than 5 percent.
Now it is around 2.78 percent. Despite such a situation, government or non-government companies selling petroleum products have started giving hints of increasing the prices of petrol-diesel and ATF (aircraft fuel). Such greedy business attitude should be discouraged. Crude oil prices were around $60 on average during 2025. Despite this, the government did not ask these companies to reduce the retail prices for 2024. Now if global prices have increased and these companies have started seeing their profits eroding, then they have started giving hints of increasing retail prices, i.e., putting more burden on the common consumer. This is an unreasonable approach.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has clearly stated that India has reserves of petrol, diesel and other fuels for the next four weeks. However, India is not solely dependent on Arab countries for all its supplies. It also buys crude oil from African countries like Nigeria and Algeria, and from the US, Russia and Malaysia. In such a situation, there is no need for government or non-government companies selling oil to create unnecessary panic.
Such fear has a direct impact on other sectors of the national economy. For the business world, morality is less important and wealth is more important. That is why the interest in profiteering increases during every difficult situation. It is the duty of the government to not allow such a trend to flourish. The welfare of the countrymen lies in the fact that the retail prices of petrol and diesel remain stable. This is the only effective measure to keep inflation under control.