Christmas has come early this year for motorists across the country – the Department of Energy has announced that petrol prices will decrease by R1.84 for December, while diesel prices will drop by R1.45 and illuminating paraffin by R1.33. This means the drop in fuel prices will be greater than what was initially predicted.
Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe announced the fuel price adjustments, which will be effective from December 5, in a statement, in which he attributes the price changes to several factors.
Radebe says in his statement that the rand has increased against the dollar, moving from R14.79 to R13.67, causing lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin.
Brent Crude oil prices dropped per barrel due to the establishment off the Nghi Son refinery in Vietnam and a new refinery in South Korea, which has resulted in a larger available supply of crude oil and high stock levels in the United States have further contributed to lowered petrol prices.
International petrol prices have also seen a decrease, says Radebe in his report.
“The international prices of all the petroleum products decreased on average during the period under review. This led to lower contributions on the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin.
“The current fuel price adjustments are due mainly to … the stronger rand and lower crude oil prices,” the statement reads.
Initial data collected by the Central Energy Fund estimated a drop of R1.67 for 95 petrol and 1.64 for 93 petrol – almost 20 cents less than the expected drop.
#FuelPriceAdjustment #TeamEnergy pic.twitter.com/uOtepZC0Tc
— Department of Energy (@Energy_ZA) December 2, 2018
The Automobile Association (AA) has released a detailed list showing the petrol prices in 2018 month by month. The list shows the rapid increase in pricing over the year.
AA spokesperson, Layon Beard, told EWN that motorists must save money regardless of the drastic decrease in fuel pricing, as the AA is not sure where prices will go in the new year.
“Try and save … money rather than spending it on other things as we don’t know where the fuel price is going in 2019, so if you do realise any savings now, keep [them] in reserve for 2019 in case you need [them] … if the price goes up again,” said Beard.
The petrol price for December is effective countrywide, not just in Gauteng as was previously announced.
Picture: Pixabay