UPDATE: Radebe confirms adjustment of fuel prices effective from Wednesday

Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe has announced the adjustment of fuel prices which will be effective from Wednesday. In a statement, the minister said the fuel price adjustments were due to the contribution of the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate, the prices of crude oil, import prices of Petroleum Products and self-adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism Rules.

“In line with the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism Rules, the Slate Levy on petrol and diesel will be zero effective from the 2nd January 2019. The current combined Slate Account balance for petrol and diesel amounted to R690.00 million which is above the threshold of minus R250 million.

“The current fuel price adjustments are due mainly to the international factors, namely, the lower crude oil prices and weaker Rand.”

Based on current local and international factors, the fuel prices for January 2019 will be adjusted as follows:

Petrol (93 Octane, ULP and LRP): 122.00 c/l decrease;
Petrol (95 Octane, ULP and LRP): 123.00 c/l decrease;
Diesel (0.05% sulphur): 153.92 c/l decrease;
Diesel (0.005% sulphur): 155.92 c/l decrease;
Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): 123.00 c/l decrease;
SMNRP for IP: 164.00 c/l decrease;
Maximum LPGas Retail Price: 132.00 c/kg decrease
The fuel prices schedule for the different zones will be published on Monday, 31 December 2018.

Earlier

The Automobile Association (AA) on Friday said the New Year will bring good news to motorists as fuel prices are set to drop.

“Petrol is showing a reduction of around R1.00 a litre, with diesel down by R1.30 and illuminating paraffin dropping by R1.22.”

This was based on unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund. Should this materialise, AA said it would amount to a more than R2 decrease in fuel prices since the beginning of December.

“The main driver of these reductions has been sagging international petroleum prices, spurred on by the USA which is trending towards becoming a nett exporter of oil. Should this ever come to pass, the power of the OPEC nations to influence petroleum prices would be reduced considerably, leading to increased oil price stability.

“However, such scenarios will play out over the longer term, and South Africans should be more concerned with short-term effects such as the Rand/US dollar exchange rate.”

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