Can February hurry up, please? Because at this rate, the petrol price decrease that the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has teased for the past couple of weeks won’t look anything like a decrease, from where we’re standing. Fear not, for the CEF’s latest fuel price projections still put motorists on course for a R60c/l decrease for February.

There’s a petrol price decrease in the pipeline

As ever, we should mention that the CEF’s figures below are not final and are subject to change. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is officially responsible for adjusting the country’s fuel prices on the first Wednesday of every new month, using the data the CEF has gathered throughout the previous month.

The CEF tracks the petrol price adjustments by studying the average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate as well as the average price of oil products globally. It regularly publishes fuel price projections based on its gathered data to offer South Africans an accurate glimpse into the coming fuel price adjustments — helping them plan accordingly.

The biggest factor behind the increasingly worrisome trend toward a price increase is the rising price of oil globally. For once, the Rand is actually lending itself toward the fuel price recoveries listed below — a factor that could change over the coming weeks, thus resulting in an even smaller fuel price decrease across the board.

The DMRE will officially adjust the country’s fuel prices on Wednesday, 4 February. Without further ado…

Here are the petrol and diesel price predictions (so far) for February 2026: