Yup, it’s already that time of the week. Time to face the latest bout of the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) petrol price predictions. Last week, the CEF delivered the unfortunate news that both petrol and diesel drivers would likely experience an increase in prices come Wednesday, 1 March.

According to the CEF’s latest data – captured on 10 February – the country is still facing an increase, though not quite as hectic as last week’s prediction.

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As always, we warn readers that while these numbers might be official — they’re from the CEF directly — they are still predictions and may change before price increase day. The CEF makes its predictions based on the price of refined oil and the current US Dollar/Rand exchange rate used to buy it. The problem? Neither the current price of oil nor the Dollar/Rand exchange is looking so hot right now.

The official price of petrol is decided at the end of every month by the Department of Energy (DoE), once it has accounted for any mitigating factors.

Here are your fuel price predictions (so far) for March 2023:

Petrol 95: increase of 115 cents per litre (R1.15)
Petrol 93: increase of 122 cents per litre (R1.21)
Diesel 0.05%: increase of 36 cents per litre (R0.36)
Diesel 0.005%: increase of 36 cents per litre (R0.36)
Illuminating Paraffin: increase of 45 cents per litre (R0.45)

It’s possible that the CEF’s next prediction could be far worse than what we’re seeing now. What with the President’s recent state of disaster declaration, the Rand is expected to take a hit unlike anything we’ve seen for a while. But that’s next week’s problem.

Source: Central Energy Fund