Motorists can look forward to a pumped up fuel bonus
Motorists can expect their Christmas bonus to take them a lot further than they would have expected as the petrol price could decrease by more than 70 cents a litre on December 3.
The wholesale price of diesel could fall by about 50 cents on December 3, the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) said on Tuesday (November 18).
The expected decrease will bring the price of petrol lower than it was a year ago. It will be the first time in five years that petrol is cheaper on an annual basis, the trade union said.
The expected decrease follows 45 cents per litre cut on November 5.
Paul Joubert, senior economic researcher at the SRI, said that the weaker rand is counteracting a reduction in local fuel prices at present.
It is believed that the rand traded at an average of approximately R11.12 against the US dollar in October. So far, it has traded marginally weaker at an average of R11.14 during November.
“Fortunately, international petroleum product prices, the other factor that determines local fuel prices, have so far continued to decline along with oil prices during the course of November,” Joubert was quoted by businesstech.
The price of Opec oil, which was $86.29 a barrel in October, has averaged nearly 10 per cent lower at $77.67 a barrel in November so far, he added.
The expected reduction would take the price of 93 octane petrol in Gauteng to approximately R12.28 a litre, which is below the price of R12.97 a litre that applied in December 2013.
“In November 2009, petrol was R1.30 cheaper than in November 2008, but in the subsequent five years the price of petrol has consistently been higher than it was a year before,” said Joubert.
Joubert said the relevant period for calculating December’s local fuel prices only ends on Thursday, November 27.
He indicated that, should the rand or oil prices experience large fluctuations between now and then, the fuel price adjustments in December could deviate significantly from this projection.
The Department of Energy will announce the final fuel price changes on November 28.
