Petrol prices rise for 5th consecutive day

New Delhi , Nov. 18 (IANS): The upward trend in petrol rates continued on the fifth consecutive day on Monday, while the diesel prices remained constant for the sixth day in continuation. The prices have been affected by the rise in the crude oil rates in the international market. Though on Monday, the petrol rates in the international market remained unchanged, the Brent crude oil rates were the highest in the past two months. Accordingly the petrol prices have been showing a surge with Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai seeing a hike of 16 paise/litre. As per the Indian oil website, the petrol rates in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai were INR 74.05/litre, INR 76.74/litre, INR 79.71/litre and INR 76.97/litre respectively. The diesel rates, which have remained unchanged for six consecutive days are -- INR 65.79/litre, INR 68.20/litre, 69.01/litre and 69.54/litre respectively. Brent crude futures were down by 0.05 per cent, at $63.31 a barrel, which is the highest in the past two months. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $57.84 a barrel, 0.02 per cent higher than the previous session