Official petrol price drops for tomorrow

The Department of Energy (DMRE) has gazetted October’s fuel price drops, showing more relief for petrol drivers but more pain for diesel drivers, reports BusinessTech.

At most, petrol is dropping by R1.02 per litre while diesel is going up by 15 cents per litre.

The changes will take effect tomorrow, 5 October.

According to the DMRE, fuel prices for October 2022 will be adjusted as follows:

• Petrol 93 – Decrease of 89 cents per litre
• Petrol 95 – Decrease of R1.02 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% – Increase of 10 cents per litre
• Diesel 0.005% – Increase of 15 cents per litre

These adjustments take into account fuel price data for the whole month of September, including exchange rate fluctuations, changes in international oil prices, and retail margin changes.

For the month of October, the Slate Levy remains unchanged at 83.68 cents per litre.

Factors affecting South African fuel prices

The relief in South African petrol prices comes off the back of average international oil prices being on a downtrend through the month of September.

However, a portion of these gains was wiped out by the rand depreciating against the US dollar at the same time, from an average of 16.7016/dollar at the end of August to 17.5547 as of 29 September.

This led to 57.36c being tacked back on to every litre of petrol in the country and 74.67c on every litre of diesel.

Additionally, the differentials between petrol 93 and 95 were adjusted as is done at the start of every quarter, resulting in varying degrees of price drops for this fuel type.

For diesel, the rise in prices is attributed to supply and demand. According to TreasuryOne, the Russia-Ukraine war and the turning of seasons in the Eurozone has had many market participants stockpile diesel to use for machinery, home heating, and emergency supply.

Diesel also occupies a smaller portion of the market as most vehicles around the world use petrol, which, in turn, has kept the prices of diesel from taking a considerable drop.

The below table shows how this month’s fuel price adjustments will reflect at the pumps: