अनुवाद अभ्‍यास-माला /Translation Excercise Series – 41

India imports around 70% of its crude oil requirement. Fall in crude oil prices, therefore, helps the country save on import bill, thereby narrowing its current account deficit (CAD). Brent Crude is a major trading classification of sweet light crude oil that serves as a major benchmark price for purchases of oil worldwide. Brent crude prices dropped to a three-month low on 14 March to $51 a barrel. That’s despite OPEC’s (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) efforts to cut production and stabilize the market. Increasing rig counts and high oil inventories in the US are weighing on crude oil prices. As OPEC in its recent monthly report increased its 2017 forecast for oil production outside the group it indicates the oil markets may take long to move close to balance. Opec’s current oil market report for 2017 says, non-OPEC oil supply is now projected to grow by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to average 57.74 million bpd, up by 160,000 bpd. This is driven by higher expectations for Canada, the US and Russia. It seems that the oil supply recovery is gathering momentum in the world oil market. Lower oil prices are good news for India, considering we import a huge portion of our oil requirements. It will lower inflation. In general, the drop in crude oil prices should lead to a decline in global petroleum product prices as well. Locally, apart from global petroleum product prices, the rupee-dollar exchange rate also plays an important role in determining prices.