International Prices of Crude Oil, Petrol and Diesel

About International Prices of Crude Oil, Petrol and Diesel

Crude oil, petrol and diesel prices are linked through refining, but they are not interchangeable benchmarks. IndiaGraphs presents international price series for all three to help readers distinguish movements in the raw input from prices of major refined products.

Datasets available on this page

IndiaGraphs provides 3 datasets: Crude Oil, Petrol, Diesel. Use the dataset tabs above to examine each measure separately.

Why crude and product prices diverge

Crude oil is the refinery feedstock; petrol and diesel are products with their own regional demand, supply and quality specifications. Refining margins, inventories and transport conditions can cause product prices to move differently from crude prices.

A widening difference between product and crude prices is not automatically a refinery profit margin. The comparison must account for units, benchmark specifications, yields and operating costs.

Check the benchmark and currency

International energy prices are often quoted in US dollars, but not always in the same physical unit. Crude oil may be shown per barrel while refined products can use other volume or mass units.

Before calculating a spread, confirm that each dataset uses comparable units, currency, grade and observation dates. Do not subtract unlike price series directly.

International prices versus Indian retail prices

Global benchmark movements influence the economics of fuel supply in India, but domestic pump prices also reflect exchange rates, taxes, distribution costs and pricing decisions.

An international diesel price series therefore should not be presented as the price paid at an Indian fuel station.

How to interpret the three datasets

Compare the direction and timing of crude, petrol and diesel price movements. To study refining economics, first normalise units and select consistent regional benchmarks.

The chart is useful for international price context; it does not by itself establish retail inflation, refinery profitability or future fuel prices.

Data interpretation and downloads

The chart and available downloads support historical comparison, provided the observations use consistent units, reporting periods and definitions. The dataset mapping identifies the measures but does not provide their underlying values; no numerical trend or record high is asserted here.