With effect from 6 am on Thursday, petrol are at Rs 74.63 per litre in Delhi, Rs 77.32 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 82.48 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 77.43 per litre in Chennai, according to Indian Oil Corporation.

Diesel prices are at Rs 65.93 per litre in Delhi, Rs 68.63 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 70.2 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 69.56 per litre in Chennai, India's largest fuel retailer mentioned on its website - iocl.com.

At Rs 65.93 per litre, today's diesel price in Delhi is more than what petrol cost in the national capital on August 3, 2017. On that day, petrol retailed at Rs 65.69 per litre in Delhi, data showed. (Also read: Government Rules Out Excise Duty Cut To Cushion Petrol Prices)

In Delhi and Mumbai, petrol prices are at their highest level in four years and seven months while diesel prices are at record highs, which means the fuel has never been this expensive in either of the cities before. (Also read: Clean Petrol, Diesel At Delhi Petrol Pumps)

Currently, petrol and diesel prices across the country are revised by state-run oil marketing companies - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum - on a daily basis, effective 6 am, on the basis of global crude oil and rupee-dollar forex rates.

Global crude oil prices rose on Thursday, lifted by concerns over supply disruptions in Venezuela and the Middle East as well as by strong demand, news agency Reuters reported. Brent crude oil futures were around 74.44 per barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures near $68.36 per barrel. With that, crude oil prices are not far from their highest since late 2014.

The rupee (INR) shed 52 points on Wednesday to close at 66.90 against the dollar - its weakest close since February 22, 2017. Weakness in the rupee against the greenback also makes crude oil imports more expensive. India imports about 80 per cent of its annual crude oil requirement.

So far this month, Petrol prices are up Rs 1.06-Rs 1.14 per litre across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, while diesel prices are Rs 1.53-Rs 1.63 per litre higher.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs. 2 a litre. Subsequent to that excise duty reduction, the Centre had asked states to also lower VAT, but just four of them - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh - reduced rates. (Also read: Oil minister for bringing petrol under GST). (Also read: Oil minister for bringing petrol under GST)