Official fuel price for January – Huge drop for petrol and diesel

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has published the official fuel price adjustments for January 2023.

The new year will be kicking off with a boon for South African motorists with a significant price reduction for both petrol and diesel.

Petrol users will see a price drop of just over R2 per litre while diesel users will see a reduction of nearly R3 per litre, reported BusinessTech.

These are the official fuel price changes for the month of January, according to the DMRE:

• Petrol 93 – Decrease of R2.06 per litre
• Petrol 95 – Decrease of R2.06 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% – Decrease of R2.69 per litre
• Diesel 0.005% – Decrease of R2.89 per litre

The price changes will come into effect from 4 January 2023.

Factors affecting the fuel price in South Africa

The international price for petrol, diesel and paraffin decreased during the period under review, wrote BusinessTech.

Additionally, the rand appreciated against the US dollar during the same period, with the exchange rate improving to R17.28 to the dollar in December compared to R17.53 during the previous period.

This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 15.27 c/l,18.81 c/l and 19.20 c/l, respectively.

The combined cumulative petrol and diesel Slate balances at the end of November 2022 amounted to a negative balance of R 7.046 billion.

As per the provisions of the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism, a new Slate Levy of has been implemented into the price structures of both petrol and diesel, which will take effect along with the price changes from 04 January 2023.

The Slate Levy is currently sitting at 61.38 c/l – a decrease of 21.90 c/l over the previous period.

The table below shows how January’s fuel price adjustments will reflect at the pump: