Energy

Big petrol price increase announced for South Africa

Petrol price

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has announced significant increases to the price of petrol and diesel for February. 

Coming into effect tomorrow, 5 February, the rising fuel prices have been driven by increased oil prices and a weaker rand. 

Financial markets have been struggling to digest the impact of a second Donald Trump presidency, resulting in widespread uncertainty. 

This tends to push investors towards dollar-based investments for safety and away from emerging market assets. As a result, emerging market currencies, such as the rand, weaken. 

The threat of tariffs on trade tends to push the price of commodities higher, as it could result in supply disruptions. 

As a result, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has announced the following changes to the price of fuel in South Africa. 

  • Petrol 93 – increase of 82 cents per litre
  • Petrol 95 – increase of 82 cents per litre
  • Diesel 0.05% – increase of 105 cents per litre 
  • Diesel 0.005% – increase of 101 cents per litre

Apart from the impact of Donald Trump kicking off his second term as US president, the oil price has risen on the back of data indicating sanctions on Russia are finally having an impact.

The average Brent Crude oil price increased from 72.78 US Dollars (USD) to 77.41 USD during the period under review, the department said. 

The main contributing factors are increased demand due to cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the anticipated increase in demand for oil from China following economic stimulation policies. 

On the other hand, supply was affected by OPEC+’s decision to delay production increases until April 2025 and new sanctions against Russia and Iran, which could further constrain supply and result in higher freight rates.

The impact of the rising oil price was compounded by the rand depreciating, on average, against the dollar from R18.11/USD to R18.73/USD during the period under review. 

This led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol and diesel by 36.85 c/l and 39.58 c/l, respectively.

Apart from the recent swings in the value of the rand, it has come under pressure in the months after Trump won the US election in November. 

Trump’s policies are largely seen as boosting the dollar while weakening emerging market currencies like the rand. The added uncertainty only exacerbates this, as investors flock to the dollar for relative safety.

Below are the official prices for petrol and diesel in February.

InlandJanuary OfficialFebruary Official
93 PetrolR21.34R22.16
95 PetrolR21.59R22.41
Diesel 0.05% (wholesale)R19.29R20.34
Diesel 0.005% (wholesale)R19.44R20.45
CoastalJanuary OfficialFebruary Official
93 PetrolR20.55R21.37
95 PetrolR20.80R21.62
Diesel 0.05% (wholesale)R18.50R19.55
Diesel 0.005% (wholesale)R18.68R19.69

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