New Delhi: India is “watching” global oil markets after oil cartel OPEC decision to cut production for the first time since 2008 led to a surge in oil prices, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said.

OPEC and non-OPEC countries have come together for what they call “rebalancing” of the market by reducing production so that the glut in the market eases, he said.

“As a consumer, we have to be watchful as things are emerging,” he told reporters on sidelines of the Petrotech conference here. He said countries that have agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels a day account for only 40 per cent of the world production and the remaining 60 per cent outside any quota limits. “As a country which imports over 75 per cent of its oil needs, we have to be very watchful. We have to wait,” he said. Pradhan said he had raised with the visiting OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo that the grouping should keep in mind the interests of the consuming nations and not monopolise the market. “He stated that they will bear in mind the concerns but right now they are only rebalancing the market,” he said. Benchmark Brent oil today slipped 1.7 per cent to USD 54.03, ending a four-day winning streak that was the longest since August. India has used the slump in oil prices since 2014-15 to not just cut petrol and diesel rates to cool inflation but also as an opportunity to shore up revenues by raising duties. The basket of crude oil it imports had averaged USD 105.52 per barrel in 2013-14 which dipped to USD 84.16 in the following year, and to USD 46.17 a barrel in 2015-16. This fiscal, it has averaged USD 44.81 per barrel so far. Yesterday, Pradhan had stated that a balance of interest between producers and consumers has to be struck for the sustainability of the oil markets. Recalling his statement before the OPEC forum in June last year, he said consumption of petroleum products is price sensitive as there is a genuine issue of affordability for a sizable population in India and other developing countries. “Hence, while deciding the pricing aspect of crude oil, it should be factored in that the security of supply must, in turn, be matched by security of demand. — PTI