South African motorists woke up to higher fuel costs following the raising of petrol prices by 18 cents starting on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy said the price of 95 unleaded petrol (ULP) and 95 lead replacement petrol (LRP) rose by 18 cents a litre with effect from midnight Wednesday while that of 93 ULP and 93 LRP decreased by 4 cents a litre.
Both grades of diesel (0.05% Sulphur) and diesel (0.005% Sulphur) increased by 25 cents a litre, the ministry said.
The price adjustments saw a litre of petrol in the hinterland Gauteng Province, which currently costs US$1.14 a litre, go up to US$1.15, the ministry added.
The price of illuminating paraffin (wholesale) increased by 25 cents per litre, while that of illuminating paraffin went up by 33 cents a litre.
The ministry said the main reason for the fuel price increases was due to higher oil prices on the world market during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
“The oil prices rose sharply after drones attacked two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq refinery, which is the largest crude oil stabilisation plant in the world, and the Khurais oil field, which is the second largest oil field in Saudi Arabia, operated by Saudi Aramco on the 14th of September 2019.”
“The closure of these operations had an impact on nearly five million barrels of crude processing per day, affecting 5 % of the world’s daily oil production,” the ministry said.
NM/jn/APA