Minister of mineral and petroleum resources Gwede Mantashe announced a raft of fuel price increases in all categories, citing Brent crude oil price increases and geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.
The price of 93 unleaded petrol and lead replacement petrol saw a 20-cent-per-litre increase, as did 95 unleaded petrol. Diesel saw an increase ranging between 62 and 65 cents per litre. Illuminating paraffin increases by 44 cents per litre.
In a statement released on Monday, Mantashe said, regarding crude oil prices, the average Brent crude oil price per barrel increased from $64.08 (R1,028) to $69.08 (R1,108) during the period under review.
“The main contributing factors are the higher shipping rates as well as the geopolitical uncertainty caused by the tension between the US and Iran, which could result in disruption of crude oil supply in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Over the weekend, tensions rose between the US and Iran, with the US and Israel conducting what they have referred to as a pre-emptive strike on the Iranian Republic, and Iran conducting retaliatory strikes on Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mantashe said the average international petroleum product prices rose following the increasing trend of the crude oil price.
“These factors led to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin by 37.53 c/l, 81.36 c/l, and 63.81 c/l respectively. The prices of propane and butane increased during the period under review due to the cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere and tighter global supply.”
He said the rand appreciated on average against the dollar from R16.31 to R16.00 per dollar during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
“This led to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin by 16.96 c/l, 19.20 c/l, and 19.21 c/l, respectively.”
The statement said the fuel prices schedule for the different magisterial district zones will be published on Tuesday.
Business Times
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