New Delhi: Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday that a decision will be taken on whether petrol and diesel prices will be reduced in the next two to three months. It is impossible to say anything at this time.
He said that during the Iran war, when crude oil prices were skyrocketing globally, Indian oil companies had bought crude oil at high prices. Refineries are currently processing that expensive stock. Selling oil and gas below cost has caused a loss of ?74,781 crore to the country's state-owned oil companies till June 30. He said that crude oil prices have started falling after the US-Iran deal. If this pattern continues for 2-3 months, then relief in oil prices is expected in a few months.

**Petrol and diesel prices hiked in May
In May, IOC, BPCL, and HPCL, citing high international crude oil prices, increased petrol and diesel prices in installments by ?7.50 per litre. All three state-owned companies control over 90% of the country's 100,000-plus petrol pumps.
Public companies have not yet reduced prices. State-owned oil companies Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited have not yet made any changes in prices.

**Private companies' petrol and diesel prices are cheaper.
The country's largest private fuel retailer, Nayara Energy, has cut petrol prices by ?5 per litre and diesel prices by ?3 per litre. Now, the price of petrol in Bhopal has come down from ?119.79 to ?114.79 per Naira, and diesel has come down from ?102.57 to ?99.57.

**Decision to reduce crude oil prices
On February 27, before the US-Iran war, international crude oil prices were $72 per barrel, which increased to $110 per barrel during the war. After the agreement between the two countries, crude oil prices have now returned to $70 per barrel. After this, Naira reduced the prices of petrol and diesel.