Expect to pay more for fuel from Wednesday, February 5, with month-end data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) pointing to significant increases for both petrol and diesel.
95 Unleaded petrol is looking set to increase by around 83 cents and 93 Unleaded by 90 cents, while diesel is likely to rise by between R1.01 (50ppm) and R1.06 (500ppm).
This will inflate the price of 95 petrol to around R21.63 at the coast and R22.46 in Gauteng, while 93 should increase to around R22.24.
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.
Although these predictions are based on the actual price under-recoveries for January, the official fuel price adjustments have yet to be announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and other factors such as the slate balance could push the increases to even higher levels.
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 peaked at $82 per barrel in mid-January before settling back to around $76 later in the month.
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 that will determine February’s fuel prices. 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