Should current conditions persist for the next few weeks, the petrol price could be cut by around 90 cents per litre come July, while diesel could see a 70 cents per litre drop.<\/p>\n
The biggest contributor to the price forecast is a significant drop in the price of international petroleum products, which are down by 14% in the last month, driven by falling oil prices.<\/p>\n
However, news of apparent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Friday (14 June)<\/a><\/strong> are likely to lead to a reversal in the recent trend.<\/p>\n The spot price of oil on Friday saw brent crude at $62 a barrel, up more than 3% on news of the tanker attacks.<\/p>\n Oil prices had lingered around $70 a barrel for the last two months, fluctuating on trade talks between US president Donald Trump, and China.<\/p>\n As it currently stands, international petroleum prices are contributing to a 106 cents per litre drop in local petrol prices<\/strong> – however this is subject to change.<\/p>\n Impact of the currency<\/strong><\/p>\n Not helping South Africa’s petrol prices so far in June, however, is a weakening rand.<\/p>\n The local unit experienced a brief move above R15 to the dollar<\/a><\/strong> in June, and has maintained a weaker position – in the R14.80 range – following a slew of poor data and political uncertainty.<\/p>\n The country reported its biggest quarterly decline in a decade for Q1, showing a 3.2% contraction in GDP, while ANC leaders bickered over the party’s policy on the South African Reserve Bank.<\/p>\n The currency has also been battered by international factors, with Trump’s trade talks again hurting global sentiment towards emerging markets.<\/p>\n South Africa’s weaker exchange rate is currently contributing a 17 cents per litre hike<\/strong> in prices.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/International-petroleum.png\")
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