Festive season comes with early gift in projected December fuel price drop

An early Christmas present will be presented to motorists over the festive season with another decrease predicted at the pumps for December.

Commenting on the first unaudited data report released by the Central Energy Fund on Monday (16 November), the Automobile Association (AA) said current projection points to a decrease of 36 cents a litre in the price of petrol and four cents in the case of diesel. Illuminating paraffin will however increase for the third straight month by ten cents.

Describing the mixed outlook at “quite unusual”, the association stated that the appreciating of the Rand compared to the US Dollar despite stronger international oil prices, averted a price uptake in spite of additional factors such as the electing of Joe Biden as the new president of the United States and “optimism in the wake of the announcement of a Covid-19 vaccine” after a second lockdown come into force in parts of Europe last week.

“Under the circumstances, oil prices and the Rand/USD exchange rate remain as stable as can be expected,” the AA said, adding that while prices appear to have gone back to pre-lockdown levels, “with the South African economy in its current fragile state, fuel users will be among the first to feel any economic shocks”.

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