New Delhi, Mar 11: The price of crude oil India buys from international market has crossed record 100 dollars a barrel mark, putting further pressure on fuel retailers which are losing Rs 360 crore per day on auto and cooking fuel sale.

The price of the basket of crude oil touched a record 100.17 dollars per barrel yesterday, official sources said.

In Parliament, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said: "The Government is closely monitoring the international oil prices and will continue to protect the interests of consumers." Indian Oil Corp, which controls roughly half of the fuel market, said it was losing Rs 180 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene through PDS.

Public sector oil firms were losing Rs 9.68 a litre on petrol, Rs 12.21 per litre on diesel, Rs 20.95 per litre on kerosene and Rs 303.66 per 14.5-kg domestic LPG cylinder, a company official said.

The surge in international oil prices has negated the gains oil companies made from the last month's hike of Rs 2 a litre in petrol price and Re one a litre in diesel price.

The Indian basket of crude oil has averaged 98.46 dollars per barrel in March as against February average of 92.37 dollars a barrel.

The current year average at 77.98 dollars per barrel is a significant jump over 62.46 dollars per barrel average in 2006-07.

In international markets, crude oil prices today rose to an all-time high of over 108 dollars a barrel due to a weakening dollar, which fell the most against major currencies yesterday.