Huge petrol price hikes expected for South Africa in December

The Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) daily fuel price data currently indicate that South Africans can expect a maximum increase of R1.15 per litre for petrol in December, but that diesel could go down by as much as 22 cents per litre, reports BusinessTech.

This is in stark contrast to the past two month’s adjustments, which saw the price of the latter fuel type go up for both periods.

According to the CEF’s data as of 11 November 2022, local fuel prices on the first Wednesday of December are expected to change as follows:

• Petrol 93 – Increase of R1.03 per litre
• Petrol 95 – Increase of R1.15 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% – Decrease of 22 cents per litre
• Diesel 0.005% – Decrease of 13 cents per litre

However, keep in mind that these expected changes are not the official price alterations that will come into effect next month as the final adjustments will take into account the entire November’s data, as well as any potential changes in margins and levies.

Why diesel prices are coming down again

The anticipated rise in petrol prices in December is largely due to the increasing costs of international petroleum products.

These prices remained relatively consistent over the past few months not having too much of an impact on petrol, but rising demand from China as well as a round of supply cuts from the oil-producing nations (OPEC) has led to the price of oil starting to rise again, and consequently, the price of petroleum products.

Diesel, on the other hand, has been priced consistently high in recent months and the expected pullback is thanks to the South African rand’s strengthening against the US dollar.

Throughout last week, the rand appreciated by 4% against the dollar reaching its strongest level since September, which shaved around 13 cents off of every litre of diesel thereby countering the negative effects of rising oil prices.