Petrol prices, which have increased by almost 15% in South Africa since January this year, look set to increase further in October 2019.
The country’s fuel price is deregulated, which means a hike in crude oil price and a weakening of the local currency, the Rand, directly push prices up.
Those two have happened so far in September 2019, leading to warnings by regulators of an imminent hike of diesel and gasoline prices.
After an initial spike of 20% to above $70 a barrel, the oil price has since retreated, with Brent crude oil currently trading at $63 – compared to $60 before the attack. Saudi output was restored in the week of September 23, to pre-attack levels.
The Rand took a hit amid concerns about a global trade war and broke through the R15/$ level for the first time in three weeks. It was last trading at R15.03.
Based on the latest calculations of the Central Energy Fund, the biggest parastatal in the Department of Energy (DoE) the recent Rand and oil price movements will leave unleaded 95 octane petrol on track for an increase of 19c a litre, while 93 octane petrol could be cut by around 4c. Diesel prices will increase by 24c, and paraffin by the same margin.
