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MUMBAI, May 8

THE Union Minister of Petroleum, Mr Ram Naik, today ruled out any immediate hike in the retail prices of petrol and diesel even as international crude futures shot up beyond $27 per barrel.

"There will be no immediate change in retail prices,'' Mr Naik, told Business Line after he had a meeting with oil company officials.

Oil company officials met in Delhi today to seek a solution to contain the increasing revenue losses following the rise in the prices of imported crude.

Public sector oil companies, which have been asked to hold on to the present price levels up to June 2002, claim to have lost revenues of up to Rs 1,000 crore in March and April.

"We expect our losses to go beyond Rs 250 crore in May if the prices continue at $27 levels,'' said an oil company official. The company has reportedly accumulated losses of over Rs 250 crore in April alone. Mr Naik, however, said that efforts were on to bring down excise duties as a measure to reduce losses.

"We are concerned about the cascading effect that any hike in prices of transportation fuels will have on the economy. Even though we are suffering losses, the industry will have to take into consideration the market reaction to such price hikes,'' said a senior Hindustan Petroleum Corporation official.

According to a senior oil industry analyst, the situation may not be as bad as it seems. "Oil PSUs may not necessarily be incurring losses. They are losing out on profits at current price levels,'' he said.

Brent crude today closed at $25.70 per barrel while New York Light crude ended at $ 27.10. Brent futures closed at $27.36 per bbl.

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