South Africans woke up to a fuel increase at the pumps on Wednesday, with a litre of petrol now costing R22.87 (about US$1.24) from the old price of R22.36.
Diesel 0.05% sulphur has increased by R1.42, while diesel 0.005% has gone up by R1.43, the energy ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, lighting paraffin has increased by 77 local cents a litre and cooking gas (LPG) has gone up by 98 cents per kg.
The increase in prices was influenced by several local and international factors, including importation costs and the cost of crude oil itself on the world market, the ministry said.
“The average Brent crude oil price increased from $89.79 per barrel to $92.41 a barrel during the period under review,” it said.
“The average international product prices of petrol, illuminating paraffin and diesel increased, while LPG prices decreased during the period under review,” it noted.
The local rand currency depreciated against the US dollar from R17.55 to R18.11 during the period under review when compared to the previous one, the ministry said.
The weaker rand led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and lighting paraffin by 37c per litre, 52c per litre and 48c per litre, respectively.
NM/jn/APA