South Africans will have to reach deeper into their pockets this coming month as the price of petrol is expected to increase from Wednesday.
The price of both grades of petrol (93 ULP and LRP) and (95 ULP and LRP) is set to increase by 37 cents a litre.
This means that a litre of 95 petrol, which currently costs R25.12 in Gauteng, will now cost R25.49 cents a litre as of Wednesday.
Other consumers will breathe a slight sigh of relief as the prices of both grades of diesel, paraffin and LP Gas are expected to decrease.
The price adjustments were announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).
The adjusted prices are as follows:
Petrol (93 ULP and LRP): 37 cents increase.
Petrol (95 ULP and LRP): 37 cents increase.
Diesel (0.05% sulphur): 30 cents decrease.
Diesel (0.005% sulphur): 36 cents decrease.
Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): 19 cents decrease.
Single Maximum National Retail Price for illuminating paraffin: 25 cents decrease.
Maximum LP Gas Retail Price: 46 cents decrease.
The department explained the adjustments in prices in a statement on Monday.
“The average brent crude oil price increased from 84.22 US Dollars (USD) to 88.10 USD per barrel, during the period under review.
“There was a lot of volatility in the market during this period. The main contributing factor is the growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and sustained production cuts by OPEC+ Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries countries.
“The average international product prices of petrol increased following the higher brent crude oil prices and anticipated demand for the driving season during the period under review.
The diesel, illuminating paraffin and LP Gas prices decreased on average due to seasonal changes and reduced demand in the Northern Hemispheres as they move away from their winter season.
“The movement in product prices has led to a lower contribution to the basic fuel price (BFP) of petrol by 34.41 cents a litre and higher contributions to the BFP of diesel by 39.33 cents a litre and illuminating paraffin by 22.35 cents per litre,” the DMRE said.
A weakening Rand was also a contributing factor.
“The Rand depreciated, on average, against the US Dollar [from 18.04 to 18.90 Rand per USD during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
This led to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of all products by about 2.50 cents per litre on all products,” the department said
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com