News / 2 January 2024 / Albert du Toit

Official petrol price decreases for January announced

The new year is off to a good start as fuel prices in South Africa are experiencing another decrease on Wednesday, 3 January 2024.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced that petrol costs are dropping by a maximum of 76 cents per litre this evening, while diesel is going down by a more welcome R1.26 per litre.

These adjustments are mainly attributed to a drop in international oil prices during December and a reduction of the local Slate Levy.

Factors affecting South African fuel prices

In the final month of 2023, the average Brent Crude oil price decreased from US$82.62 to US$77.35 mainly due to increased production by the USA, Venezuela, Guyana, and other non-OPEC countries, said the DMRE.

In line with this, average international petroleum product prices saw a downtrend which led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices (BFP) of petrol and diesel by 50.83c/litre and R1.06/litre, respectively.

Furthermore, the cumulative slate balance on petrol and diesel at the end of November 2023 had a positive balance of R1.8 billion, allowing for a reduction of 26.32c/litre in the Slate Levy, putting the tax at zero for January.

Unfortunately, however, the rand depreciated from R18.57/dollar to R18.66/dollar in December, resulting in higher contributions to the BFP of petrol and diesel by 5.30c/litre and 5.83c/litre, respectively.

In line with the Working Rules to determine the BFP of petrol, which is reviewed once per quarter, the octane differential also changed during the previous quarter and therefore the retail prices of 95 and 93 petrol will be different in each fuel-pricing zone with effect from 3 January 2024, said the DMRE.

Accounting for these factors, fuel prices in South Africa this Wednesday will be adjusted as follows: