Petrol and diesel prices: Check latest rates in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata

The petrol and diesel prices surged on Saturday as well. The price of petrol rose by 10-11 paise and that of diesel by 15-16 paise across all major cities. According to the Indian Oil website, the petrol costs Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi, Rs 81.04 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 78.04 a litre in Kolkata and Rs 78.39 a litre in Chennai after the revised rates were implemented on Saturday morning.

Similarly, diesel prices also saw an increase across all major cities.

Diesel now costs Rs 68.40 a litre in Delhi, Rs 71.72 a litre in Mumbai, Rs 70.76 per litre in Kolkata and Rs 72.28 a litre in Chennai after the increase on Saturday morning.

The oil prices jumped by $3 a barrel on Friday after a US airstrike killed a top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, escalating major tension in the Middle East.

The retail prices of petrol and diesel are dependent on the global crude oil prices and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate as India imports 80 per cent of its crude requirements.

Domestic petrol and diesel prices are reviewed by oil marketing companies on a daily basis. Price revisions are implemented at the fuel stations with effect from 6 a.m.

Earlier, a major escalation in tensions between the US and Iran - the two biggest oil producing nations - following a US airstrike killing one of Iran's most powerful military commanders, General Qasem Soleimani, in an attack in Iraq sent global financial markets into a tailspin on Friday.

While the stock markets took a beating, gold, silver and oil prices zoomed.

Oil prices are already on the rise in India, which imports over 80 per cent of its requirements. Iraq is the largest crude supplier to India. The Iraqi Basra crude is regarded as one of the best in terms of quality and ideally suited for Indian refineries.

According to data sourced from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 million tonne of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019. India provisionally imported 207.3 million tonnes of crude oil in 2018-19, down from 220.4 million tonne in the previous financial year.