A ray of hope exists for motorists at the pumps as early indicators from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) suggest a notable drop in petrol prices from Wednesday, 3 August 2022.
UPDATE: Official petrol price for August 2022 sees a decrease of more than R1.
The Department of Mineral Resources and. Energy confirmed the final adjustments in the retail price of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin, coming into effect on Wednesday, 3 August 2022. See updated price estimations below:
Petrol price: Here’s how much a litre may cost from Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Following a month of skyrocketing fuel increases, the latest data on the movements of international oil prices, and currency fluctuations, indicates that petrol prices may drop as much as R1 in August 2022.
However, a key determinant in the final petrol price for next month will be heavily influenced by the expiry of the general fuel levy (GFL) relief. From August 2022, the full GFL fee will be reinstated to retail petrol price calculations, slashing all hopes of a significant decrease in fuel costs.
Taking into consideration the CEF’s latest fuel price estimations, published on Wednesday, 27 July 2022, this is how much a litre of fuel may cost from Wednesday, 3 August 202
PLEASE NOTE: The petrol price estimations listed above are speculative and likely to be affected by daily oil prices and currency fluctuations. To determine the price per litre estimation, we used the BFP estimation from the CEF’s latest daily analysis, along with Shell’s most recent petrol price update, which lists a detailed breakdown of the exact levy, taxes and other costs included in the final retail price of fuel in South Africa.
Inland
TYPE | PRICE (p/l) | CHANGE |
Petrol 95 | R25.42 | -R1.32 |
Petrol 93 | R24.99 | -R1.32 |
Diesel 0.05% | R24.75 | -R0.88 |
Diesel 0.005% | R24.61 | -R0.91 |
Coastal
TYPE | PRICE (p/l) | CHANGE |
Petrol 95 | R24.77 | -R1.32 |
Petrol 93 | R24.34 | -R1.32 |
Diesel 0.05% | R23.87 | -R0.88 |
Diesel 0.005% | R23.96 | -R0.91 |
What goes into the final retail price of fuel in South Africa?
Determining the final retail price of petrol in South Africa relies heavily on the rand’s performance in currency markets and oil price movements. Using this information, the CEF can formulate basic fuel price (BFP) estimates which, in essence, offer South African importers a snapshot into the cost of buying petrol from an international refinery, transporting the product and ensuring it against possible losses at sea and on land.
However, before the retail price of petrol is finalised at petrol stations, several additional costs are included in the BFP:
Government levies
- IP tracer levy (reimbursement to the oil industry for buying IP tracer dye and injecting it into IP to curtail the mixing of IP and diesel)
- General Fuel levy (tax levied by the government)
- Slate levy (to finance the cumulative under-recovery of the industry)
- RAF levy (to compensate for people involved in road crashes and accidents)
- Petroleum products levy (reimbursement to the pipeline users for the applicable NERSA tariff on transporting fuel through the pipeline)
Additional costs
- Wholesale margin (markup to the price of a product to account for wholesaling costs)
- Service cost recoveries
- Storage, handling and delivery costs
- Distribution costs
- Dealers margin (commission to the fuel pump dealers for retail operation)
- Zone differential (applicable to inland regions)
- Customs and excise duty
Petrol price adjustments are generally made on the first Wednesday of every month by the Department of Energy.