Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre on Friday, the first price increase in over four years, as the companies grapple with severe financial strain due to the surge in international prices amid the West Asia crisis. With this price hike, petrol is now priced at Rs 97.77 per litre, and diesel at Rs 90.67 in Delhi. Fuel prices vary across the country due to different levels of levies imposed by states. Global crude oil and fuel prices have surged due to the West Asia war and the consequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but in a bid to insulate domestic consumers from high prices, the government and the OMCs had so far not hiked regular petrol and diesel prices. In fact, prices of the two automobile fuels had not been hiked for over four years — since April 2022. They were reduced once in the past four years — ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2024.…