Rupee v/s Dollar: At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.68 against the greenback, then slipped further to 82.69, registering a fall of 39 paise over its previous close.
The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 9 paise higher at 81.58 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday as the American currency retreated from its elevated levels. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 81.45 against the greenback.
India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1, joining a growing number of nations that tax super normal profits of energy companies.
Russia has not been a major source of fossil fuel for India but the imports of discounted Russian crude oil have seen a massive increase in the last few months, notwithstanding rising disquiet in many Western capitals.
Windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil was hiked to Rs 17,750 per tonne from Rs 17,000, a move that will hit producers like ONGC and Vedanta Ltd.
The levy on crude, which follows record earnings by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) and private sector Cairn Oil & Gas of Vedanta Ltd, alone will fetch the government Rs 67,425 crore annually on 29 million tonnes of crude oil produced domestically.
Last month, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become India's second-biggest supplier of oil behind Iraq as refiners snapped up Russian crude available at a deep discount following the war in Ukraine. Indian refiners bought about 25 million barrels of Russian oil in May.
US said that energy imports from Russia are not banned or part of sanctions, therefore, New Delhi is not violating US sanctions.
Prices had been on a freeze since November 4 ahead of the assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab -- a period during which the cost of raw material (crude oil) soared by about USD 30 per barrel.
In the past several weeks, the prices of crude oil in the international market had reached up to $140 per barrel, most recently last week. Though it fell down to $110 again but it's still way more than $80 per barrel earlier, causing losses to public sector companies as the government is not allowing petrol, diesel prices to rise for over 120 days now, says Dr. Sudhir Bisht, International crude oil expert.
As Russian economy faces its worst since 1991, Moscow has urged India to increase its investments after sanctions over its oil-gas exports.
Moscow has been supplying the European nations with roughly 40 percent of their gas needs, said Russia's deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak.
Meanwhile, oil prices came under more pressure after Libya's national oil company said an armed group had shut down two crucial oil fields.
The basket of crude oil India buys rose above USD 102 per barrel on March 1, the highest since August 2014. This compares to an average of USD 81.5 per barrel price of the Indian basket of crude oil at the time of freezing of petrol and diesel prices in early November last year.
Sri Lanka's worsening foreign-exchange shortage has seriously impacted the energy sector, which largely depends on imports for fuel.
The move is aimed at global energy markets, but also at voters who are coping with higher inflation and rising prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. Gas prices are at about $3.40 a gallon, more than double their price a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association.
Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 107.24 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 95.97, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
If the turmoil is restricted within Afghan boundaries, the impact would be limited. But if Afghanistan continues to be on the boil, and boil violently, the oil-producing regions of the Middle East and Central Asia could get affected and, consequently, oil prices.
The OPEC oil cartel and allied countries said Thursday that they have decided to add gradually add back some 2 million barrels per barrel per day of oil production from May to July, moving cautiously in pace with the recovery of the global economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On increasing fuel prices in the country, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan said that it has happened due to increase in prices of crude oil in international markets.
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