New Delhi, April 25: Petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and finance minister P. Chidambaram today discussed the oil price situation and the level of government levies on petroleum products.

However, nothing concrete emerged from the meeting. Any final decision on the matter would require cabinet approval.

The petroleum ministry is of the view that the changes in excise duties introduced in the budget have hit the oil companies. It is, therefore, keen that these duties are scaled down so that the burden on the national oil companies is eased.

However, the finance ministry claims that the duty changes in the budget are revenue neutral. It is not willing to forego the huge revenue that it earns from the petroleum sector as reining in the fiscal deficit is uppermost on its mind.

Finance minister P Chidambaram told journalists after the meeting that the oil situation is always a cause of concern for the government. However, he added that the Indian basket of crude imports was still around $51 per barrel and not as high as the New York light crude being widely quoted in media reports.

The petroleum ministry feels that the budgetary changes are not revenue neutral. Whatever the finance ministry has lost by reducing customs and excise duties on LPG and kerosene, is much less than the increase in excise duties on petrol and diesel.