Prices of petrol and diesel continued their upwards trend to touch fresh all-time highs on Tuesday after oil marketing companies raised the rates by 35 paise per litre each.

In the national capital, petrol hit a high of Rs 86.05 per litre while the diesel rate climbed to Rs 76.23 a litre.

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This is the maximum increase in fuel prices in the last one year.

This latest hike took the petrol prices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata to Rs 92.62, Rs 88.60 and Rs 87.45 respectively.

Similarly, diesel rates climbed to Rs 83.03 in Mumbai, Rs 81.47 in Chennai and Rs 79.83 in Kolkata, price data showed.

Rates had gone up by Re 1 per litre each last week before hitting a two-day pause.

Fuel prices, which vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT, are now at a record high in the country, prompting cries for a cut in excise duty to ease the burden on consumers.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last week blamed Saudi oil output cut for the surge in oil prices but remained non-committal on tax cuts.

Top oil explorer Saudi Arabia has pledged additional voluntary output cuts of 1 million barrels per day in February and March, which has led to price climbing to most since the pandemic broke out.

State-owned fuel retailers: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), had on January 6, resumed daily price revision after nearly a month-long hiatus.

Since then, rates have gone up by Rs 2.34 a litre on petrol and Rs 2.36 in case of diesel.

This comes after international oil prices firmed up in hopes of demand returning from the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in different countries, including India.

Prior to the current high crude prices triggered the price hikes this month, fuel prices had last touched record high on October 4, 2018. At that time the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and boost consumer confidence. Alongside, state-owned fuel retailers cut prices by another Re 1 a litre, which they recouped later.

This time, there are no indications of a duty cut so far.

Petrol and diesel prices are revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.

Brent crude futures jumped 47 cents to settle at $55.88 a barrel while the WTI crude ended 50 cents higher at $52.77 a barrel.