Holiday motoring costs more

Motorist going on holiday will pay more for fuel next month than they have in the past five months.

The Department of Energy said on Friday that the retail price of all grades of petrol would rise by 13c a litre, the wholesale price of 0.05% sulphur diesel by 14c and the price of 0.5% sulphur diesel by 15c.

From Wednesday, a litre of 95-octane petrol will cost R8.45 and a 93-octane will cost R8.29 a litre. At the coast, 95-octane petrol will cost R8.21 a litre.

Illuminating paraffin will be 19c more expensive and the price of liquid petroleum gas will rise by 17c a kilogram.

Econometrix economist Tony Twine said that while petrol will be just less than 7% more expensive than it was last December, the increase will not make much difference to consumers' lives or holiday plans.

Petrol will cost almost the same as it did during the Fifa World Cup during June and July.

"It is certainly not panic-

station time," said Twine.

Oil was the main culprit behind the price hike, he said.

The rand exchange rate had moved to cushion the upward and the downward impact of the oil price.

He said oil prices traded at about $88 a barrel in the first half of this month.

During this time, the rand remained fairly strong at around R6.90 to the dollar, but was not strengthening sufficiently to offset the rise in the oil price.

In the second half of this month, the oil price fell to less than $83 a barrel, but at the same time the rand weakened against the dollar.

And, in the past week, the oil price moved back to $85 a barrel while the rand struggled to find direction.