Petrol price drop from Wednesday

South African motorists can breathe a sigh of relief with a drop in petrol and diesel price from Wednesday.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has announced the price of both 93 and 95 octane petrol will decrease from Wednesday, 3 January 2024.

Both 93 and 95 octane petrol will decrease by 62c/l and 76c per litre.

The price of diesel (0.05% sulphur) decreases by R1.18c per litre, while diesel with 0.005% sulphur decreases by R1.26 per litre.

Meanwhile, illuminating paraffin will cost 93 cents per litre less, while the price of LPGas increases by 11 cents per kilogramme.

Reason for petrol increase

The DMRE there were several international and local factors that contributed to the decreases in petrol and diesel prices.g

These included a drop in crude oil prices, international petrol product prices, the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate, and a reduction in slate levy from 26 cents to zero cents per litre.

Brent Crude price

The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from $82.62 (R1 512) to $77.35 (R1 415) during the period under review, mainly due to increased production by the United States of America, Venezuela, Guyana, and other non-OPEC countries despite the announcement by OPEC to cut production.

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International petroleum prices

The average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin decreased in line with the lower crude oil prices, but LPG prices increased because of higher freight costs.

These factors led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 51c/l, R1.06/l and 99c/l, respectively.

Slate levy

“The cumulative slate balance on petrol and Diesel at the end of November 2023 had a positive balance of R1.8 billion.

Therefore, a slate levy of zero c/l will be implemented in the price structure of petrol and diesel with effect from the 3rd of January 2024,” the department said.

This means that the motorists will benefit by 26.32 cents per litre since the slate levy will decrease from 26.32 to zero cents per litre.

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