Motorists can breathe a sigh of relief this month as although the price of petrol has gone up yet again, it is a smaller change than in previous months. The new fuel prices will take effect on Wednesday, August 5, 2020.
In a statement, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr Gwede Mantashe announced that the fuel prices for August based on current local and international factors are:
– Petrol (both 93 ULP and LRP): five cents per litre (5 c/l) increase
– Petrol (both 95 ULP and LRP): five cents per litre (5 c/l) increase
– Diesel (0.05% sulphur): forty five cents per litre (45 c/l) increase
– Diesel (0.005% sulphur): forty five cents per litre (45 c/l) increase
– Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): thirty nine cents per litre (39 c/l) increase
– SMNRP for IP: fifty two cents per litre (52 c/l) increase
– Maximum LPGas Retail Price: four cents per kilogram (4 c/kg) decrease
The fuel prices schedule for the different zones will be published on Tuesday, August 4.
The main reasons for the fuel price adjustments are due to:
– The contribution of the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate. The Rand strengthened, on average, against the US Dollar (from R17.43 to R16.82 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, diesel and illuminating paraffin of about 10.00 c/l.
– The increase in the price of crude oil. During the current fuel price review, the average Brent Crude oil price increased from 40.01 USD/barrel to 43.49 USD/barrel. The Crude prices hit their lowest point in late April but rebounded back above the 40.00 USD/barrel mark since June as economic activities resumed globally following the easing of the respective lockdown measures.
– The Petroleum Products Prices. On the finished products, the international prices of all refined petroleum products also increased following that of crude oil resulting in average under recoveries of over 15.87 c/l & 20.57 c/l on petrol and 56.85 c/l on diesel and 49.17 c/l on Illuminating Paraffin.
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