New Delhi, April 11: As fuel rates continue to surge across the nation, the government had asked oil retailers to refrain from further increasing the price of petrol and diesel, reports said on Wednesday.

The state-run oil retailers, including the Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, have been asked to bear a loss of Re 1 per litre to absorb the brunt of rocketting crude oil prices.

The brent crude oil, which plunged to as low as $20 per barrel in October 2014, is now hovering around $70. In order to keep prices under control, the government wants to see crude oil rates restricted to $50 per barrel, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said in a recent interview.

The shares of Indian Oil Corporation plummeted by 7.6 per cent today, whereas, the HPCL lost upto 8.3 per cent. The dip in stock value, however, could not be confirmed to the government's intervention.

HPCL chairman M K Surana, while speaking at the sidelines of the International Energy Forum today, said he is "not aware" of directive issued by the Oil Ministry on not increasing the fuel rates.

However, officials privy to the matter have confirmed to Bloomberg that the government is keen on preventing any further hike to price of petrol and diesel.

While a cut in excise duty was earlier used as a regulation mechanism by the government, the measure is unlikely to be reused due to the deficiency revenue collection on account of complicated GST mechanism, the officials were reported as saying on the condition of anonymity.

The petrol prices in Delhi reached Rs 73.38 on Wednesday, whereas, the light-vehicle fuel is valuing Rs 81.83 per litre in Mumbai. Diesel rate has jumped to as high as Rs 64.96 in the national capital and Rs 69.17 in Mumbai.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 08:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).