Primrose Lerato Mbhiza
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) says the price of both grades of petrol will go down by R1,78c per litre while diesel will decrease by 85.08c and 82.08c a litre from Wednesday.
The price of illuminating paraffin will decrease by 97c per litre at wholesale, and the price for Single Maximum National Retail price (SMNRP) for IP will decrease by R1,30c and the price of LP gas will increase by R1,30c per kg.
The Department’s spokesperson, Robert Maake, said the main reason for the fuel price decrease is the price of Brent Crude oil which decreased from $91.86 to $88.72 during the period under review, mainly due to the rise in global crude oil inventories because of increased production from non-OPEC + producers.
“The lifting of sanctions on Venezuela by the US created a positive outlook on supply. The low impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict has not yet affected the flow of crude oil, even though it is happening in the oil-rich region of the Middle East.
“The average international product prices of petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin followed the decreasing trend of crude oil while LPGas increased due to higher prices of propane and butane during the period under review.
“These led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 207.06 c/l, 115.15 c/l and 105.18 c/l, respectively,” he said.
Maake said the Rand depreciated slightly on average against the dollar (from R19/dollar to 19.08/dollar) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
On the Implementation of the Slate Levy, Maake said the cumulative slate balance on petrol and diesel at the end of September 2023 had a negative balance of R6.2 billion.
“Therefore, the slate levy will increase by 21.92 c/l to 52.62 c/l.”
INSIDE POLITICS