Anticipating a petrol price drop? You might just get your wish in November

Can you remember the last time the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy gave South African drivers a break from the ever-rising cost of petrol? That would be July if your brain doesn’t go that far back. And that’s just petrol. Diesel drivers last saw a drop in June. Well, that might change next month.

Petrol on your mind?

That’s if the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) figures are correct (and they usually are). The CEF regularly makes predictions on the coming month’s fuel prices by looking at the current price of refined oil and the Rand/US Dollar exchange. Now, it’s predicting the first drop in fuel prices for both petrol and diesel drivers in months.

Try and contain all that excitement for now. The CEF’s predictions are just that: predictions. We’ll have to wait until the Department makes its official decision closer to the end of the month. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy will decide the country’s official petrol and diesel prices come Wednesday, 1 November 2023.

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Here are the fuel price predictions (so far) for November 2023:

• Petrol 93: decrease of 169 cents per litre (R1.69)
• Petrol 95: decrease of 173 cents per litre (R1.73)
• Diesel 0.05%: decrease of 43 cents per litre (R0.43)
• Diesel 0.005%: decrease of 36 cents per litre (R0.36)
• Illuminating Paraffin: decrease of 44 cents per litre (R0.44)

We can’t promise that the CEF’s figures will hold out until the end of October. Something as simple as the reappearance of Stage 6 could send the country’s prices soaring again. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.