It just never ends, does it? After the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s recent battle with the country’s petrol and diesel prices — to which the country lost in spectacular fashion — you’d think we’d be afforded a reprieve, however slight. Well… that isn’t happening. At least that’s what the Central Energy Fund (CEF) had to say on the subject, having just dropped a fresh batch of predictions on our heads.
Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time to turn things around and knock that price down. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy — the ones responsible for the country’s monthly commiseration or, on occasion, celebration — reserves the ritual of altering the price at the fuel pumps for the first Wednesday of a new month. That’ll be Wednesday, 6 March if whipping out your calendars is too much of a hassle.
There’s still time to turn things around, right? Right?
See, the figures we’ve got below aren’t what you’ll see at the pumps come that Wednesday. These are coming from the CEF, a state-owned energy company that reports to the Department we keep babbling on about. That doesn’t mean it isn’t as accurate as can be. The CEF looks at all the pertinent factors as the Department does at the end of the month to arrive at the numbers we’ve got here.
That means keeping an eye on the current Rand/US Dollar exchange and the price of oil prices internationally. The CEF does not account for the Department’s monthly changes to the slate levy or retail margin — which regularly offers a little surprise in the form of a minor price hike at the beginning of each month. Without any further ado, then:
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Here are the petrol and diesel price predictions (so far) for March 2024:
- Petrol 93: increase of 131 cents per litre (R1.31)
- Petrol 95: increase of 135 cents per litre (R1.35)
- Diesel 0.05%: increase of 144 cents per litre (R1.44)
- Diesel 0.005%: increase of 158 cents per litre (R1.58)
- Illuminating Paraffin: increase of 97 cents per litre (R0.97)
Should these predictions hold until the Department’s official changes in March, we could be looking at paying R24.23 for a litre of 93ULP inland, while 95ULP could rise to R24.59/l inland, and a less-scary R23.87/l in coastal regions. Diesel, on the other hand, is more likely to have your wallet hiding under the couch of fear. You could be paying R22.80 for a litre of 0.05% diesel inland and R22.08 on the coast.
