The Department of Minerals and Energy anticipates that the South African retail petrol price will increase by 36c a litre on Wednesday June 2 — based on fuel price information at its disposal on Wednesday.
The retail petrol price is adjusted monthly on the first Wednesday of the month in accordance with the previous averaging period’s over- or under-recovery.
The anticipated increase for the wholesale price of diesel (0,3% sulphur) is 30c a litre, and 33c a litre for diesel (0,005% sulphur) and 45c a litre for illuminating paraffin.
The single maximum national retail price for illuminating paraffin is expected to rise by 60c a litre.
The department said the increases are as a result of a combination of higher international crude oil prices, higher international petroleum product prices and a stronger United States dollar.
Since the beginning of the current fuel price review period (April 26 to May 25), Brent crude oil price increased by more than $4 a barrel and the basic price of fuels by more than 20c a litre, while the stronger dollar further negatively impacted on South African fuel prices, increasing prices by an additional 10c a litre.
The South African government is concerned about the current and projected future increases and has requested the department to, within the limited resources, investigate options to cushion these anticipated fuel price increases.
Should the options that are currently being investigated prove viable, consumer prices increases should be kept as low as possible for as long as possible. — I-Net Bridge