Petrol price set to come down in November

·29 Oct 2015

Sustained declines in international oil prices since mid-month will bring some relief to motorists filling up with petrol in November according to the Automobile Association (AA).

The fuel price data for next month is expected to be released by the Central Energy Fund (CEF) on Friday, with changes implemented on the first Wednesday of the month.

“Our mid-month concerns over stronger oil prices have been allayed by an ongoing retreat,” the AA said.

“The situation has been further strengthened by a modest flattening of the Rand/US dollar exchange rate, although there are again signs of an uptick which has the potential to affect fuel pricing towards year-end,” it said.

The reduction in diesel prices is likely to be muted, the AA said, with the data indicating a drop of between 8 and 9 cents a litre.

Illuminating paraffin is expected to be down by only 3 cents or so, but the petrol price is showing declines of between 18 and 22 cents a litre.

“Fuel prices have returned to levels last seen in March of this year,” the AA said.

It warned that volatility in both oil prices and the exchange rate continues to be evident.

Read: Best and worst petrol stations in South Africa

Solidarity Research forecast a decrease of about 20 cents in the petrol price in November, with diesel seen about 10 cents cheaper.

It comes on the back of a slight decrease by 2 cents per litre for 93 EPU/LRP petrol, and an increase of 4 cents for 95 EPU/LRP petrol in October.

Diesel however, increased by as much as 53 cents and 51 cents per litre for 0.05% and 0.005% sulphur, respectively.