Motorists demand a further fuel price drop
Motorists want the price of fuel to decrease much more than it has.
Despite the drop in the fuel price earlier this month, motorists are still complaining that the amount spent to fill up their cars is exorbitant.
On 3 January, the price of fuel went down, by 34 cents per litre of 95 unleaded fuel, and 29 cents per litre for 93 unleaded fuel. The price of diesel dropped by 22 cents per litre, while that of illuminating paraffin decreased by 37 cents per litre.
The Energy Department stated the following: “The reason for the fuel price decrease is mainly to strengthen the rand against the dollar during the period under review. Since Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as president of the African National Congress (ANC) last month, to succeed Jacob Zuma, the rand has gained close to 10 per cent against the dollar, making it one of the best performers among emerging market (EM) currencies.”
According to the Department of Energy, the petrol price in South Africa is linked to the price of crude oil on international markets and is quoted in US dollars (US$) per barrel. International petrol prices are essentially driven by supply and demand for the product in a particular market.
“A crude-oil refinery’s biggest input cost is crude oil. In order for a refinery to make a profit, the price for the product manufactured from crude oil has to be higher than that of the crude oil. When crude oil prices increase as they have over the past months, the petrol price has to increase so that the refineries can cover their own costs, but when the crude oil price decreases so will the petrol price,” the Department announced on its website.
The Record asked several motorists for their view on the fuel price. None of them commented favourably.
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