No good news for motorists as petrol and diesel rise this week

The price of both grades of petrol is set to rise at midnight on Tuesday, the central energy fund said on Monday afternoon.

Both 95 and 93 octane fuel will go up 11c/l while both grades of diesel are to increase 26c/l.

The fund said in a statement that while the international prices of oil, gas and paraffin fell during the review period, a weakening rand necessitated the increases. The rand averaged R15.17/$ during this period, a weakening of nearly 8%, which was offset by the price of Brent crude falling by a little more than 8% during August.

The maximum wholesale and retail prices of illuminating paraffin will go up 24c/l and 32c/l, respectively.

The only good news in the statement is that the retail price of liquid petroleum gas will fall 16c/kg.

This is the second consecutive month that motorists will have to endure an increase after the firmer rand in June allowed for a substantial fall at the beginning of July.

The new inland price for 93 octane petrol will be R15.83/l from Wednesday, while that of 95 octane will be R16.03/l. 

The price of 95 octane fuel reached a record high of R17.08c/l in early October 2018.

lindera@businesslive.co.za