Another fuel price increase

SOUTH African motorists and commuters are facing a full-blown crisis, with petrol and diesel increasing by a massive margin next month, pushing the petrol price past R20 a litre.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said both grades of petrol would go up by 81 cents a litre from December 1. 50ppm diesel would increase by 74 cents, and 500ppm by 72 cents. Illuminating paraffin would increase by 42 cents a litre.

The cost of 95 unleaded petrol would increase to R19.63 a litre at the coast and R20.35 in the inland regions, where 93 Unleaded would increase to R20.13. The wholesale price of diesel would increase to R17.30 at the coast and R17.92 in Gauteng, keeping in mind that the unregulated retail prices (which vary between outlets) would be somewhat higher than that.

The price of Brent Crude oil increased marginally last month, from an average of $82.50 a barrel to $83.00. This alone would not have made a big difference to the fuel price, however the rand depreciated from an average of R14.72 in the previous month to R15.85 this month, the energy department said. The Slate Levy, used to compensate the industry for cumulative under recovery, increased by 26.30 cents a litre.

Fuel taxes and levies account for R6.11 a litre of fuel, which is proving increasingly controversial as higher oil prices and a weak rand drive prices up monthly.