Motorists will dig deeper into their pockets when fuel prices increase on Tuesday midnight, further exarcebating the financial challenges faced by many households.
The petrol price for both 93 and 95 unleaded will increase by R1.71 a litre while diesel will jump by R2.84, according to the Automobile Association (AA).
“Both these prices are in line with prices last seen in August last year, but not at the record highs seen in July 2022,” said the AA.
Illuminating paraffin prices will also rise by R2.78 a litre.
In a statement on Monday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said the average Brent crude oil price increased from $79.75 (R1 517) a barrel to $84.78 over the past month due to production cuts by Saudi Arabia.
“High prices of petrol are a result of low inventories and refinery outages, which affected the production of blending components used in summer grade petrol, making it more expensive to produce,” the department said.
“Diesel and paraffin prices increased because of lower shipments of Russia’s Urals crude oil, which is rich in middle distillates, as well as rising demand of middle distillates ahead of the winter season in the northern hemisphere.”
In August, the Central Energy Fund predicted that motorists were looking at a price hike between 20 and 25 cents a litre for petrol and 60 cents a litre for diesel.
The AA said at the time: “Currently, the trajectory indicates that all fuel will be more expensive in August, with the quantum of the increases most probably being higher than the current data indicates.”
Over the last few months, motorists faced a sigh of relief as petrol prices kept on decreasing.
Earlier in the year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana approved an increase of one cent a litre (1c/l) in the petrol and diesel price structures to allow the industry to recoup the levy payment for April with effect from May 3.
However, the additional 1c/l was removed from the price structures of petrol and diesel with effect early June.
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