/ 27 September 2013

Fuel prices to drop next week

South Africans will have to keep their spending to a minimum if they intend on affording expected fuel and electricity price hikes.
South Africans will have to keep their spending to a minimum if they intend on affording expected fuel and electricity price hikes.

The retail price of all grades of petrol, diesel and sulphur will drop next week, the energy department said on Friday.

The price of 95 unleaded (ULP) and lead replacement (LRP) petrol would decrease by 20 cents a litre and of 93 ULP and LRP by 19 cents a litre on Wednesday.

Both grades of diesel would decrease by two cents a litre.

The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin would decrease by four cents a litre.

The single maximum national retail price of illuminating paraffin would decrease by five cents a litre. 

The maximum retail price of LP Gas would decrease by 40 cents a kilogram.

"The big news affecting the oil price and hence international product prices over the past month was the threatened military strike on Syria, which pushed [the] Brent oil price to a six-month high on August 29, 2013, the department said in a statement.

"This risk has dissipated over the course of September and the oil price has fallen," it said.

The energy minister had approved that the retail margin on all grades of petrol increase by 4.9cents a litre with effect from Wednesday, to accommodate the salary increase for forecourt attendants.

The department said the amount would be "ring-fenced to pay the wages" of the forecourt attendants.

On Friday, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said an agreement had been reached to end a three-week strike by petrol attendants.

A pay rise of R2 an hour for petrol attendants had been secured, Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim told reporters in Kempton Park.

He said this meant workers would get an 11.6% increase. – Sapa