"opec"

Crude has now slipped 6 per cent in last six days and is now sitting a tab lower around $64.5 a barrel on the back of rising US inventory.

Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at a press conference after the OPEC+ decision on Thursday said New Delhi should take some of the crude out of storage that they had purchased at very cheap rates last year.

The OPEC+ ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption tanked in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

This is the highest rate for petrol and diesel since September 2018 and followed the 13th increase in rates since November 20.