Cape Town – All grades of petrol will increase by 47 cents per litre on Wednesday, the Department of Energy said on Friday.
Petrol went up by R1.62 in April, but remained unchanged in May.
Diesel will increase by 49c/l (0.005% Sulphur) and 46c/l (0.05% Sulphur).
The department said these increases were for Gauteng and that the pricing schedule for the different zones would be published on Tuesday.
“International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set by the global markets, including shipping costs,” the department said.
“The main reason for the fuel price increase is the high crude oil prices, which resulted in higher prices (on average) for all the petroleum products in the international markets in May 2015 compared to April 2015.”
The department pointed out that the rand appreciated against the US dollar compared to the previous fuel price review period.
It also said the international price of Brent crude oil increased on average during the period under review compared to the previous one. “The US crude stockpiles fell for a second straight week, suggesting the world’s biggest oil market is rebalancing,” it said. “Furthermore, [there were] renewed tensions in the Middle East (Iraq), which raised worries about the security of the supply of crude oil.
“The international product prices increased on average, following the Brent crude oil prices, during the period under review.”