Kolkata: Crude oil prices, which began climbing a few weeks ago, have moved dangerously close to the psychologically important level of $100 a barrel.
While Brent crude is hovering in the $97-98 region, West Texas Intermediate is slightly lower. What’s more dangerous is that the rise in crude oil prices has been steady. This can surely have a significant impact on the entire Indian economy which was trying to emerge out of the prices in April and May when the prices ruled above $100 a barrel.
Indian crude oil basket
Today morning, according to Reuters, Brent crude futures went up 34 cents, or 0.35%, to reach $97.34 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude was at $92.63 a barrel. But Indian refiners are already buying crude oil for more than $100 a barrel. “Crude Oil Indian Basket as on 04.09.2026 is $101.07,” says PPAC. The Indian crude oil basket, which signals the average price Indian refiners paid in each month since the outbreak of conflict between the US and Iran in end-February are given below.
April: $114.48
May: $106.23
June: $83.22
July: $82.04
August: $90.19
September: $99.38
The above figures are from the database maintained by PPAC (Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell), which is an arm of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. “The Indian basket of Crude Oil represents a derived basket comprising of Sweet grade (Brent Dated) and Sour grade (Oman & Dubai average) of Crude oil imported by Indian refineries during each month,” it says.
Big rise in Indian basket of crude
PPAC figures reveal how much the crude oil prices have gone up for Indian refiners since the US-Iran war compared to the levels in FY26. IN January 2026, the Indian basket stood at $63.08 while it rose to $67.89 in February. In FY26, the lowest was $62.20 (in December 2025) and the highest was $70.95 (in July).
The unfortunate part is that the Average price of crude oil that Indian refiners paid dipped below the $70/barrel mark in end June. According to the petroleum ministry arm, the Indian Basket of crude oil on June 26 stood at $68.86. Considering the Indian basket stood at $70.70 per barrel on February 19, India was buying crude 2.6% below that price they paid just before the West Asia conflicts began. The war began on February 28.
Will petrol, diesel prices rise again?
The oil market companies haven’t yet begun saying that they are incurring losses. If the crude prices keeps rising, it might not be long before they again begin they parleys for another round of rise in enery prices. Donald Trump and the rulers in Teheran do not seem to be actively pursuing any peace plan right now.
