New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS): Oil marketing companies (OMC) continued to hold the pause button on petrol and diesel prices across the four metros on Sunday.

In the national capital, petrol was sold for Rs 83.71 per litre. Similarly, in the other key cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the fuel was priced at unchanged levels of Rs 90.34, Rs 86.51 and Rs 85.19 respectively.

The prices have been the same since they were last revised on December 7.

The OMCs have gone on a pause mode at a time when expectations of vaccines to counter the pandemic and that of a major pickup in the demand have kept crude oil on the boil with the prices breaching $50 a barrel mark.

Petrol prices in Delhi are very close to breaching the all-time high level of Rs 84 a litre (reached on October 4, 2018). But the upward march has been halted, with no price revision by the OMCs for around 20 days now.

Similarly, diesel prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata have also remained at the same levels of Rs 73.87, Rs 80.51, Rs 79.21 and Rs 77.44 per litre, respectively, since December 7.