Petroleum minister Murli Deora today said there were no plans to cut fuel prices in immediate future, while terming the fall in global crude prices to the lowest in six months as a "welcome" change.

Crude prices are hovering near 100 dollars a barrel level after hitting a six-month low of 98 dollars yesterday. “I welcome this that crude prices have come down,” Deora told reporters here, however, he added that the government was not considering any fuel price revision at the moment.

Petroleum secretary R S Pandey said that crude prices were expected to fall even further. “Over the last one and a half months, crude prices have come down from the peak of $147 per barrel. The Indian basket of crude reached an average $95.47 a barrel, which is a welcome relief. We expect prices to fall further, which would be a real relief,” Pandey said.

“If crude stays at current levels for the entire financial year of 2008-09, the extent of under-recoveries is estimated at Rs 1,62,254 crore. But even this figure is very high,” Pandey said.

According to June data, estimated under-recoveries of state-run oil firms Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum stood at Rs 2,45,305 crore. If crude prices stayed at current levels, under-recoveries for the entire year were estimated to fall to Rs 1,62,254 crore, Pandey said.