Fuel price relief for motorists
Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe said South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted monthly, informed by international and local factors.
The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe recently announced an adjustment to fuel prices which came into effect on January 3.
Mantashe said South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted monthly, informed by international and local factors.
He said international factors include the fact that South Africa imports crude oil and finished products at a price set at international level, including importation costs such as shipping.
“The main reasons for the fuel price adjustments are due to crude oil prices. The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from 82.62 US Dollars (USD) to 77.35 USD during the period under review, mainly due to increased production by the US, Venezuela, Guyana, and other non-OPEC countries despite the announcement by OPEC to cut production. International petroleum product prices, the average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin decreased in line with the lower crude oil prices. LPG prices increased due to higher freight costs. These factors led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 50.83 c/l, 105.81 c/l and 99.00 c/l, respectively,” said Mantashe.
He added that the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate had an influence saying that the Rand depreciated slightly on average, against the US Dollar (from 18.57 to 18.66 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
The minister said this will lead to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 5.30 c/l, 5.83 c/l and 6.00 c/l, respectively.
“Implementation of the Slate Levy. The cumulative slate balance on petrol and diesel at the end of November 2023 had a positive balance of R1.8 billion. Therefore, a slate levy of zero c/l will be implemented in the price structure of petrol and diesel from January 3. This means that motorists will benefit by 26.32 cents per litre since the slate levy will decrease from 26.32 to zero cents per litre,” he said.
Mantashe said: “Based on current local and international factors, the fuel prices for January 2024 will be adjusted as follows. Petrol (93 ULP & LRP): sixty-two cents per litre (62.00 c/l) decrease. Petrol (95 ULP & LRP): Seventy-six cents per litre (76.00 c/l) decrease. Diesel (0.05% sulphur): One hundred and eighteen point three two cents per litre (118.32 c/l) decrease. Diesel (0.005% sulphur): One hundred and twenty-six point three two cents per litre (126.32 c/l) decrease. Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): Ninety-three cents per litre (93.00 c/l) decrease. SMNRP for IP: One hundred and twenty-four cents per litre (124.00 c/l) decrease. Maximum LPGas Retail Price: Eleven cents per kilogram (11.00 c/kg) increase.”
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