Diesel price relief, insignificant change for petrol from Wednesday

The Department of Mineral Resources and energy (DMRE) has announced the adjusted petrol and diesel prices for April with no increases in the fuel levy and Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy.

The department said 93 octane petrol will decrease by a scant 1 cent per litre from Wednesday, 5 April 2023, while 95 octane will increase by 2 cents per litre.

The price of diesel (0.05% sulphur) decreases by 74 cents per litre while diesel with 0.005% sulphur decreases by 75 cents per litre.

Meanwhile, illuminating paraffin will cost R1.25 cents per litre less, while the price of LP gas decreases by 92 cents per kilogramme.

Reason for increases

The DMRE spokesperson Robert Maake said there were several international and local factors that contributed to the petrol price increase.

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Brent Crude price

Maake said the main reasons for the fuel price adjustments are in the decrease of the Brent Crude price.

“The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from 82.14 US dollars (USD) to 79.24 USD during the period under review. There was a lot of volatility in the market this period.

“The international Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse Banks failures caused uncertainty in the markets and a shift from crude oil to gold and other precious metals which resulted in a decrease of crude oil prices.

“Interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve also contributed to the decrease of crude oil prices on fears of a global economic recession,” Maake said.

Rand to US Dollar

The department said the rand depreciated, on average, against the US dollar (from 17.74 to 18.03 rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.

“This led to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 37.88 c/l, 39.10 c/l and 38.15 c/l, respectively.”

Fuel levy and Road Accident Fund

The Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwane in his Budget Speech on 22 February 2023 announced that the fuel levy and Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy on both petrol and diesel will remain the same at 394.00 c/l and 218 c/l respectively, with effect from 5 April 2023.

This is for the second year in a row and aims to cushion motorists from high fuel prices.

Slate levy

The department said at the end of February 2023, the cumulative slate amounted to a negative balance for petrol and diesel of R 2.43 billion.

“In line with the provisions of the self-adjusting slate levy mechanism, there is a decrease of 4.38 c/l in the slate levy which will be implemented into the price structures of petrol and diesel with effect from 5 April 2023. The slate levy applicable will be 17.54 c/l,” the department said.

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