Indian crude oil hits peak

India's crude oil basket on Wednesday touched a record high of $92.29 ( Rs 3,641) a barrel on the back of the surge in prices abroad, a release from the petroleum and natural gas ministry said on Thursday.

The highest level touched by the basket last time was $92.13 a barrel on November 26, 2007.

US crude oil futures on New York Mercantile Exchange ended at a new settlement high Wednesday after briefly touching $100 a barrel for the first time intraday, fuelled by concerns of violence in Nigeria's oil producing region.

February oil futures ended at $99.62 a barrel Wednesday, up $3.64 from previous close.

The Indian basket so far has averaged $92.29 a barrel in January as against $87.92 a barrel in December and $89.11 in November.

India's crude oil basket comprises Oman-Dubai sour (high sulphur) grade crude and Brent dated sweet (low sulphur) crude in the ratio of 59.8:40.2. Dubai crude closed at $89.22 a barrel, down 10 cents from previous close, while Oman crude was up marginally to close at $89.50 a barrel Wednesday.

Prices could rise: ONGC
Crude oil prices may rise further from the current level of $100 a barrel, R S Sharma, chairman and managing director, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said on Thursday.

"I apprehend that prices could surge further beyond $100 a barrel," Sharma said.

He said the surge in crude oil prices is a result of geo-political issues, supply constraints and continued demand from developing countries.

At current crude prices, ONGC's subsidy burden for the current financial year ending March is likely to cross Rs 20000 crore, Sharma said.

He said the company's gross realisation per barrel at the current crude price would be about $90-95 per barrel.