There’s still some time before the Department of Energy makes any changes official but there’s no harm in checking out the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) predictions, right? Especially when it’s shaping up to be such a good month for petrol and diesel drivers alike.

If you’re able – try and hold off on filling up the tank until the first Wednesday of the New Year – 4 January. That’s because the CEF is predicting drops close to R2 and R3 for petrol and diesel respectively. Of course, these totals aren’t final yet. The CEF offers its price estimation based on the current price of refined oil and the Dollar/Rand exchange. As South Africans know all too well, that can all crumble in an instant.

Good news everyone!

The official changes are decided before the first Wednesday of a fresh month by the Department of Energy. But it’s worth mentioning that the CEF is never far off the true price.

Without further ado, here are the expected petrol and diesel prices for January 2023 (data captured on 16 December 2022);

Petrol 95: decrease of 193 cents per litre (R1.93)
Petrol 93: decrease of 195 cents per litre (R1.95)
Diesel 0.05%: decrease of 273 cents per litre (R2.73)
Diesel 0.005%: decrease of 283 cents per litre (R2.83)
Illuminating Paraffin: decrease of 215 cents per litre (R2.15)

If you were here last week, you’ll notice that the diesel price has taken a minor hit, but the general price drop is still a significant one. Petrol prices are almost the same as last week’s predictions, which spells good news for petrol drivers.

Source: Central Energy Fund