NEW DELHI, May 7: The burgeoning oil pool account deficit, estimated at Rs 15,500 crore for the financial year 1996-97, is likely to swell to Rs 24,500 crore by the end of the current fiscal.

Hinting at an impending hike in the administered prices of petro products, minister of state for petroleum TR Baalu on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that various options were being explored to contain the yawning gap. The minister also referred to subsidies on superior kerosene oil, used by the vulnerable sections of the society. The deficit was under review because the oil import bill, funded from the account, was 26 per cent higher than the initial estimate.

The earlier projections put the figure at $7342.5 million (Rs 25,698.75 crore). The actual bill, last year, stood at $9,321.6 million (Rs 32,625.6 crore).

Between January and April this year, average prices of marker crude oil, that is Dubai, Oman and Dated Brent crude, varied from $18.69 per barrel to $20.20.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.