Here’s how much you’ll pay for fuel this month
AFTER a few months of relief, fuel prices are moving in the wrong direction once again, but a decrease in the Slate Levy has softened the blow for this month.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced that from yesterday, the price of both grades of petrol would increase by 28 cents a litre. 500ppm diesel, the dirtier grade, will increase by 9 cents a litre, and 50ppm low-sulphur diesel will decrease by 1 cent.
A litre of 95 Unleaded petrol is R21.03 at the coast and R21.68 inland, 93 Unleaded is R21.38, 50ppm diesel is R20.77 at the coast and R21.41 inland, while 500ppm costs R20.67 and R21.32 in the respective regions, although as diesel is unregulated, the varying retail prices will be higher than that.
If you drive a small car, such as a Kia Picanto, putting 30 litres of 93 Unleaded into its 35 litre tank will cost you R8.40 more than it did last month.
Refilling a Volkswagen Polo, or similar, with 35 litres will set you back an additional R9.80, while 50 litres in a midsize vehicle, such as a Toyota Corolla or Rav4, will come with a R14 penalty versus last month.
If you are driving a diesel-powered bakkie or large SUV, the impact will be minimal, of course, with a 75 litre refill of 500ppm costing just R6.75 more.
While unaudited fuel data released later in the month pointed towards a petrol price increase in the region of 70 cents, the Slate Levy imposed on fuel prices softened the blow. This month it was lowered by 43 cents to 17.5 cents.
The Slate Levy was designed to reimburse fuel companies for the imbalances resulting from the oil price fluctuations that took place during the preceding month that determined the current fuel price.
International oil prices were significantly higher last month, and if that had been the only factor determining the fuel price, then petrol and diesel would have respectively increased by 87 cents and 71 cents. However, the rand played in our favour, softening the blow by 15 cents for petrol and 19 cents for diesel.
Although this month’s increases were lower than expected, fuel prices are still historically very high in South Africa, considering that a litre of 95 Unleaded at the coast still costs R2.14 more than it did at the beginning of last year and a whopping R6.87 more than it cost in January 2021.
The Automobile Association said: “Any increases to fuel prices now, at a time when South Africans are grappling with, among other issues, financial pressures and rolling blackouts is unwelcome.
“We again want to urge the government to revisit the fuel pricing structure with a view to finding ways to mitigate against this and other possible increases in future.”