Another petrol price shock

Cape Town - The Department of Energy on Friday announced that all grades of petrol will go up by 81c a litre from next Wednesday.

The wholesale diesel price will increase by 57c.
   
On February 6, the retail price of all grades of petrol increased by 41c a litre.

The latest increase takes the pump price per litre to R13.08 (93 ULP), and R12.87 (LRP) in Gauteng.
 
KPMG economist Lulu Krugel said earlier consumers may be in for a hard time given the rising international oil price and the rand weakening. A fuel price increase was inevitable.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday announced in his 2013 Budget Speech that the RAF levy will increase by 8c and the fuel levy by 15c a litre of petrol.  This will kick in on April 1.

In a post-budget presentation Gordhan explained the high petrol prices.

"Oil is extraordinarily high," Pravin Gordhan said at a televised New Age breakfast briefing.

"And for various reasons the rand has been settling at R8.50 to R9 for the past few years."

He said the weaker the rand, the more expensive the imports into South Africa became.

South Africa is a net importer of oil and adjusts its fuel price each month to account for changes in the rand exchange rate, the international oil price and government levies.

"During the period under review, the average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin increased (and) the average rand/dollar exchange rate weakened when compared to the previous period," the energy department said.

More to follow