Murli Deora, oil & petroleum minister, said that the government will consider a cut in fuel prices if crude oil prices stabilize at levels where losses of oil companies are lower, reports media sources.

``Prime Minister has said we cannot reduce prices now because the oil companies are losing heavily``, Deora said.

On his way back from his maiden three-day visit to the Gulf, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had yesterday said that the government will wait till public sector oil companies break-even on fuel sales before considering slashing fuel prices.

International crude oil prices have slid from an all-time high of USD 147 to USD 60 a barrel, but public sector oil companies continue to make losses on sale of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.

Oil firms make a profit of Rs 4.12 a litre on petrol but lose Rs 0.96 on every litre of diesel, Rs 22.40 per litre on kerosene and Rs 343.49 per LPG cylinder.

State-run refiner IOC posted its largest-ever net loss of Rs 70.47 billion in July-September quarter. BPCL posted a net loss of Rs 26.25 billion in the second quarter on top of Rs 10.67 billion in April-June, while HPCL reported a loss of Rs 8.88 billion in Q1 and another Rs 32.19 billion in Q2.