{"id":834404,"date":"2025-08-08T11:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=834404"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:05:25","slug":"more-relief-for-petrol-prices-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/834404\/more-relief-for-petrol-prices-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"More relief for petrol prices in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) shows that fuel price recoveries are off to a good start for petrol prices in South Africa, but diesel is still under strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite volatility in the rand\/dollar exchange rate due to the US tariffs coming into effect, global oil prices remain under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data for the first week of August 2025 points to a small over-recovery for petrol prices of between 5 and 10 cents per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diesel recoveries, meanwhile, are still in the negative, with an under-recovery between 10 and 12 cents per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This reflects a similar trend seen in July, which led to a <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/833941\/here-is-the-official-petrol-price-for-august-6\/\">small cut to petrol prices this week and a sizeable hike for diesel in August.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should current market conditions continue, motorists can expect something similar in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the recoveries at the end of the first week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Petrol 93: <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">decrease<\/mark> of 10 cents per litre<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Petrol 95: <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">decrease<\/mark> of 5 cents per litre<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diesel 0.05% (wholesale): <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">increase<\/mark> of 12 cents per litre<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diesel 0.005% (wholesale): <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">increase<\/mark> of 10 cents per litre<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Illuminating paraffin: <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">increase<\/mark> of 7 cents per litre<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The start of the month is generally too early to make an accurate projection for where fuel prices will end up next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, they are a solid indicator of how markets would have to shift over the coming weeks to make an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the CEF\u2019s data, contrary to July, the rand\/dollar exchange is currently the main negative contributor to fuel price recoveries, with a relatively weaker rand cutting recoveries by about 12 cents per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, global oil prices have come down markedly, contributing to an over-recovery of around 20 cents per litre for petrol and a couple of cents per litre for diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices have been declining since tensions in the Middle East\u2014which flared up in mid-June\u2014eased and markets again turned to pricing in a supply glut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prices shot up to around $85 a barrel in June after Israel and the US bombed Iran, but have moved below $70 a barrel since then as the threat of escalations receded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In August so far, prices have fallen further, with Brent crude trading around $66 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bureau for Economic Research noted that prices decreased again this week after oil producers (OPEC+) agreed to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This led to fears of a global oversupply at a time when the US-led trade war is weighing on economic growth and energy demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine also put downward pressure on the oil price,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The divergence between petrol and diesel is still present but diminishing. In July, diesel supply constraints led to a much larger under-recovery for the fuel, which resulted in a hike in local prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to market analysis by Bloomberg, the world is still facing a diesel crunch, which is reflected in the recovery data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group noted that high demand from the aviation sector has tightened the balance of supplies, and a cold winter in the northern hemisphere could do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this, markets are bullish, and current levels can be maintained over the next three to four months, it said. This means the gap between diesel and petrol will likely linger, but should not worsen.onths, it said. This means the gap between diesel and petrol will likely linger, but should not worsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2-1024x688.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-834409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2-1024x688.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2-768x516.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Petrol-August-2025-week-1v2.jpg 1236w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rand troubles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the CEF&#8217;s data, the rand\/dollar exchange is currently undercutting fuel price recoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The snapshot was recorded with the rand trading at R17.70 to the dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rand has largely been driven by US dollar strength or weakness, and has declined by close to 3% this month so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it is ending the week stronger due to broad US dollar weakness amid economic concerns\u2014a testament to the rand&#8217;s volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After hitting as high as R18.35 to the dollar after the 30% US tariffs on South African exports were confirmed on Friday 1 August, the rand pulled back to around the R18.00\/$ level at the start of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is now trading at R17.68\/$, up 1.7% against the dollar, and also up 0.2% and 0.4% against the euro and pound sterling, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Economists note that the rand&#8217;s recovery isn&#8217;t necessarily due to any inherent strength, but rather due to dollar weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US markets were hit by weaker-than-expected jobs data and government pressure on the Federal Reserve while digesting the impact of the Trump administration&#8217;s tariff war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Locally, the rand has already internalised much of the US tariff, including the 25% tariff on auto producers that has been in effect since April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was seen in the rand pulling away from the R17.00\/$ levels seen in late March. However, with the 30% &#8216;reciprocal tariff&#8217; only just coming into effect, the market impact\u2014and effect on the rand\u2014remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) shows that fuel price recoveries are off to a good start for petrol prices in South Africa, but diesel is still under strain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":821002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[14829,8995,19909,2171],"class_list":["post-834404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-ber","tag-cef","tag-diesel-price","tag-petrol-price"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834416,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834404\/revisions\/834416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}