After what proved to be a very stable week for South Africa’s fuel price economy, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has provided the country with another round of petrol and diesel price predictions that paint a very pretty picture. Whether you drive a diesel guzzler or a petrol polisher, or even just want to stock up on some illuminating paraffin for a potentially long winter, you’re in luck.

Fuelling our love (and our cars)

That’s only if you can restrain your fuel-buying habits until next Wednesday, 7 May. That’s typically when the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) adjusts the price of fuel at the pumps – the first Wednesday of the new month. The DMRE, however, usually decides on these changes the Friday before, meaning the likelihood of the country’s petrol price cuts going pear-shaped is rather low.

By “pear-shaped”, we mean the price of fuel costing more in May than it currently does. That’s still a possibility, of course. The CEF’s figures below, while technically the most accurate, are not final and are subject to change. Not until the DMRE publishes the adjustments (usually on the first Monday or Tuesday of the month) is the price of fuel official.

The CEF arrives at the figures below by tracking those economic factors that can influence the price of fuel. These include the current Rand/US Dollar exchange rate as well as the price of unrefined oil globally, both of which haven’t seen much movement recently. These, averaged out over the month, alongside the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy, determine the price of petrol and diesel locally.