Johannesburg - South African motorists can look forward to some relief at the pumps from Wednesday December 7, but the price decreases won't be as substantial as had been expected earlier in the month.
The cost of all grades of petrol will drop by 20 cents a litre while diesel will fall by 32 cents (0.05ppm) and 31 cents (0.005ppm). This will bring the price of litre of 95 Unleaded down to R12.85 in Gauteng and R12.37 at the coast, with 93 Unleaded priced at R12.59 inland, while 0.05ppm diesel will now set you back R11.02 and R10.64 respectively. Illuminating paraffin will drop by 28 cents per litre (wholesale).
Opec deal pushing prices up
Filling up could become more expensive from next year, however, due to surging international oil prices. Although the rand has gained back most of the ground it lost after Donald Trump's US election victory shook emerging market currencies, Opec's recent agreement to cut oil production has sent oil prices surging in the past few days, with Brent Crude trading at $54.08 on Monday morning.
Although many analysts believe the rally will soon run out of steam due to the cuts not being very severe, the International Energy Agency warns that international oil prices could hit $60 in 2017, which would certainly translate into higher pump prices in South Africa, should the rand not gain more ground on the dollar.