Pretoria: South Africans will face a mixed bag at the pumps from tomorrow following the announcement of the petrol price adjustments by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) today. The department announced marginal increases to the price of both grades of petrol, with diesel variants set for a price drop. Decreases will also be felt for consumers of illuminating paraffin and LP Gas.
According to South African Government News Agency, the following price adjustments will apply: Petrol 93 (ULP and LRP) will see a 1c increase, while Petrol 95 (ULP and LRP) will experience an 8c increase. Diesel (0.05% sulphur) and Diesel (0.005% sulphur) will decrease by 10c and 8c, respectively. Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale) will decrease by 11c, with the Single Maximum National Retail Price for Illuminating Paraffin seeing a 15c decrease. The Maximum Retail Price of LP Gas will decrease by 17c, and 19c in the Western Cape.
‘The average Brent Crude oil price increased slightly from US$67.01 to US$67.16 during the period under review. The increase in the price of crude oil is due to the geopolitical risks emanating from the Russia and Ukraine conflict as well as the Middle East conflict,’ the department said. The impact of these geopolitical risks outweighs the OPEC+ recent announcement to increase production in October, which could ultimately lead to increased supply and lower prices. Furthermore, international petroleum prices followed the increasing trend of crude oil prices.
The Rand also strengthened during the period under review. ‘This led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices [BFP] of petrol by 16.93 cents per litre (c/l), diesel by 8.13 c/l and illuminating paraffin by 4.23 c/l. The prices of Propane and Butane remained the same as during the previous period, however, the shipping costs were lower. The Rand appreciated on average, against the [USD]. from 17.73 to 17.49 Rand per USD during the period under review when compared to the previous one. This led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol by 14.27 c/l, diesel by 15.40 c/l and Illuminating paraffin by 14.79 c/l,’ the DMPR said.