Oil and the rupee: who pays?
Set a starting point and a shock for crude prices and the exchange rate. The calculator shows the change in an importer’s rupee bill, how much of it comes from oil and how much from the rupee, and what happens at the pump depending on how much of the cost is passed on.
Starting point
Default: about $98, 9 Nov 2026
Default: 93.93, close on 9 Nov 2026
The shock
Who absorbs it
Share of the change in crude cost per litre that reaches the retail price. The rest is absorbed by oil company margins or tax changes.
An assumption. Set it to your city’s price.
A large tanker cargo is around 1–2 million barrels.
Importer’s bill for the cargo
Crude cost per litre
Pump price
Household fuel bill
Absorbed upstream
Where the change in the bill comes from
Assumptions and limits
- The importer’s bill is barrels × Brent × rupees per dollar. Freight, insurance, refining margins, hedges and payment timing are left out.
- The change splits exactly into an oil effect (price change at the old exchange rate), a rupee effect (exchange-rate change at the old price) and the part that comes from both moving together.
- Crude cost per litre divides the cost of a barrel by 158.99 litres. It ignores refining yields and product cracks, so it is a guide to scale, not a pump-price forecast.
- Pass-through, starting pump price and household use are your choices. Retail fuel prices in India also depend on excise duty, state VAT and oil company pricing decisions.
For the argument behind these mechanics, read our oil-shock coverage.