The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has announced the official fuel price adjustments for February, with significant increases confirmed for both petrol and diesel.
From Wednesday, February 5, both grades of petrol will cost 82 cents per litre more, while diesel is set to increase by between R1.01 in the case of 50ppm and R1.05 for 500ppm.
This will inflate the price of 95 petrol to R21.62 at the coast and R22.45 in Gauteng, while 93 will increase to R22.16.
The wholesale price of 50ppm diesel looks set to reach R18.68 at the coast and R19.44 inland, although retail prices will be somewhat higher than that.
The price adjustments will see a 30 litre petrol refuel costing R24.60 more, while 40 litres will set you back an additional R32.80 and 50 litres an extra R41. A 70 litre diesel refuel (given most bakkies have 80 litre tanks) will cost R70.70 more than last month.
February’s increases follow petrol price hikes of between 12 cents and 19 cents in January, 17 cents in December and 25 cents in November.
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The anticipated price hikes are largely due to international oil prices that rose significantly above the previous review period’s average of $72 (R1,356). Brent Crude averaged $77.41 during the most recent review period.
Economists expect oil prices to remain volatile due to the uncertainty created by Trump’s protectionist policies as well as US sanctions on Russian-produced fuel.
The weaker South African rand has contributed around 36 cents to the under-recovery, having depreciated from an average of R18.11 to the US dollar in the previous period to R18.73. And with the rand under even more pressure this week following Donald Trump’s threats over SA’s land expropriation bill, it’s unlikely that we’ll see any fuel price relief in March.
IOL