Oil politics: By freezing fuel prices, govt is undermining its own policy

The other worry is its impact on domestic fuel prices, which moved to a new dynamic regime in June last year

Crude oil prices have risen to their highest level since late-2014, pushed by a deepening economic crisis in Venezuela and a looming decision on whether the US will reimpose sanctions against Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, which is the international benchmark, breached $75 per barrel on Monday. A measure of the sharp rise is the fact that Brent crude was priced around $27 a barrel as late as January 2015. As a corollary, the price of the Indian basket of imported crude oil, too, has risen sharply. India’s worry over crude oil prices stems from its energy needs