Worse than you thought: February's latest petrol price predictions promise a bleak month ahead

Remember last week? When the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) predictions warnings of a 40c price hike across petrol and diesel prices would be a tad too rough on the country’s collective wallet? About that… The CEF’s latest round of data — captured on 1 February 2024 — is predicting yet another major price hike come February. We’d gladly return to last week to ease up on the sarcasm.

But what’s done is done, and there’s no use in crying about it. And — forgive us for huffing a little copium — there’s always the chance things turn around before the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy inflicts its will upon the country’s fuel pumps. If this is your first rodeo, that’ll be taking place on Wednesday, 7 February at midnight. Our professional opinion? We’d, uh, recommend filling up before that happens.

Have you tried running instead?

The data below isn’t official. It’s from the Central Energy Fund, which affords us the ability to be at least a little bit optimistic that things might change before the Department of Mineral Resource and Energy’s official decision arrives in the early stages of next week.

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t still be stressed. The CEF’s data is about as close to official as anything can be. It arrives at the figures you can see down below by looking at all the same data the Department does — such as the current Rand/US Dollar exchange rate and the international price of refined oil. Considering the massive jump above the $80 mark for Brent Crude oil at the end of January, we’re not surprised at the CEF’s figures.

The only difference? The CEF doesn’t take into account the Department’s slate levies or retail margin changes which have been known to drastically alter the month’s prices. Unfortunately, it rarely ever goes our way.