All grades of fuel are expected to decrease this week bringing relief to cash strapped South African consumers.

This was announced by the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources on Monday.

The price decreases are as follows:
   • Petrol 93 (ULP & LRP): 92 cents decrease
   • Petrol 95 (ULP & LRP): 92 cents decrease
   • Diesel (0.05% sulphur): 79 cents decrease
   • Diesel (0.005% sulphur): R1.05 decrease
   • Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): R1,03 decrease
   • Single Maximum National Retail Price for illuminating paraffin: R1.38 decrease
   • Maximum LPGas Retail Price: 10 cents decrease

This means that a litre of 95 petrol, which currently costs R23.11 in Gauteng, will now cost  R22.19 cents a litre as of Wednesday.

In a statement on Monday, the department explained the international and local factors leading to the price adjustments for this month.

“The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from 83.55 US Dollars (USD) to 78.54 USD per barrel, during the period under review. The main contributing factors are the increased production from major oil-producing countries despite lower demand concerns, and the anticipated interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.

“The average international petroleum product prices decreased on average during the period under review in line with lower crude oil prices. This led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol by 85.59 cents a litre and 78.40 cents a litre, diesel by 93.55 cents a litre and 67.63 cents a litre and illuminating paraffin by 91.86 cents a litre, respectively.

“The Rand appreciated on average, against the US Dollar (from 18.23 to 18.05 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one. This led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of all products by over 10.00 cents per litre,” the department said.