How much you’ll pay for fuel this month
AFTER a few months of relief, South African fuel prices are moving in the wrong direction once again, but thankfully a decrease in the Slate Levy has softened the blow for February.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced that from Wednesday, February 1, the price of both grades of petrol would increase by 28 cents per litre. It said 500ppm diesel, the dirtier grade, would increase by 9c per litre, while 50ppm low-sulphur diesel would decrease by 1c.
A litre of 95 Unleaded petrol now costs R21.03 at the coast and R21.68 in the inland regions, where 93 Unleaded now retails at R21.38. The wholesale price of 50ppm diesel is now 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 like a Kia Picanto, putting 30 litres of 93 Unleaded into its 35-litre tank will cost you R8.40 more than it did in January. Refilling a Volkswagen Polo or similar with 35 litres will set you back an additional R9.80, while 50 litres in a midsize vehicle like a Toyota Corolla or Rav4 will come with a R14 penalty versus last month. If you drive 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 had pointed towards a petrol price increase in the region of 70c, the Slate Levy that gets imposed on fuel prices has softened the blow. This month it has been lowered by 43c to a total of 17.5c.
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 in January and if that had been the only factor determining the fuel price then petrol and diesel would have seen respective increases of around 87c and 71c.
Thankfully the rand played in our favour, softening the blow by 15c in the case of petrol and 19c for diesel.