Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) hiked petrol prices by about Rs 2.95 a litre and other state-owned oil companies Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) will follow suit midnight tonight. This would be the sixth price hike after petrol price deregulation. However, the diesel prices remain unchanged. AIR correspondent reports, since June 26, when petrol price was deregulated, IOC, BPCL and HPCL have revised rates six times as crude oil has jumped from 73-74 dollars per barrel at the time of deregulation to the current levels of 90 dollars a barrel. IOC and other state retailers Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) are losing 4.17 rupees per litre on selling petrol as crude oil cost has climbed to 90 dollars per barrel. A similar hike in diesel rates is likely to be considered by an Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee on 22nd of this month.