Johannesburg – Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister Gwede Mantashe, on Tuesday announced fuel price hikes – with petrol going up by 28 cents per litre – with effect from Wednesday, (1 February 2023).
Minister Mantashe said based on current local and international factors, the fuel prices for January 2023 will be adjusted as follows:
- Petrol (both 93 and 95 ULP & LRP): Twenty-eight cents per litre (28.00 c/l) increase;
- Diesel (0.05% sulphur): Nine point one six cents per litre (9.16 c/l) increase;
- Diesel (0.005% sulphur): Zero point eight four cents per litre (0.84 c/l) decrease;
- Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): Fifty-eight cents per litre (58.00 c/l) increase;
- SMNRP for IP: Seventy-eight cents per litre (78.00 c/l) increase;
- Maximum LPGas Retail Price: One hundred and forty cents per kilogram (140.00 c/kg) decrease;
Explaining the price adjustments, Minister Mantashe said the main reasons for the fuel price adjustments were that crude oil prices – the average Brent Crude oil price – increased from 85.08 US Dollars (USD) per barrel to 86.16 USD per barrel during the period under review.
He said the main contributing factor is the re-opening of the Chinese economy.
International petroleum product prices
“The movement in international refined petroleum product prices, diesel, petrol, and illuminating paraffin, in particular, followed the increasing trend in crude oil prices, while the prices of LPGas decreased due to lower propane and butane prices during the period under review,” said Minister Mantashe.
He said the LPGas prices were decreasing due to the lower prices of Propane and Butane during the period under review.
Rand/US Dollar exchange rate
He said the Rand appreciated slightly, on average, against the US Dollar (USD) (from 17.28 to 17.00 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
“The stronger Rand led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin by 15.97 c/l, 18.79 c/l, and 19.36 c/l respectively,” said Minister Mantashe.
“Implementation of the Slate Levy The negative slate balance on petrol and diesel amounted to R2.191 billion at the end of December 2022.”
The minister said a slate levy decrease of 43.84 c/l (from 61.38 c/l to 17.54 c/l) will be implemented into the price structures of petrol and diesel, in line with the Self-Adjusting Slate Mechanism rules effective from Wednesday, (1 February 2023).
The fuel prices schedule for the different zones will be published on Tuesday, (31 January 2023).
