South Africa: Motorists to see petrol prices breach the R10 mark in May
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South African motorists are in for a rough and expensive ride as petrol prices are set to breach the R10/l mark on May 4 this year, last seen in mid-2008.
South Africa’s Department of Energy announced on Thursday that petrol pump prices for all grades of petrol in the main inland commercial region would increase by 29c a litre, or 2,9%, rising from R9,96/l to R10,25/l.
Economists’ Mike Schussler told Engineering News Online that there was still a better possibility for prices to increase further, rather than coming down, on the back of a wave of political uncertainties.
Geopolitical tensions around the globe, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, has seen oil prices surpassing $100/bl in recent months.
Schussler added that fears around such unrest spreading to the major oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, and others in the Persian Gulf area, which produce 50% of the world’s oil, were currently driving oil prices even higher.
South Africa is a net importer of oil and adjusts its fuel price each month to account for changes in the rand exchange rate, the international oil price and government levies. The department noted that all the average international oil-based product prices had increased, while the average rand/dollar exchange rate also strengthened from R6,77 a dollar to R6,95 a dollar during the past month, forcing government to further increase prices.
In addition, motorists using the Gauteng highways could see toll fees as high as 66 c/km, coming into play in June this year.
Source: Engineering News (Loni Prinsloo)
This is bad news for most people’s bank accounts (except, of course, for the government and fuel retailers- they still make the same profit). However, it may be good news for the environment. The financial pressure forces us to conserve fuel and think twice about taking unnecessary trips in cars. It may also be good news for our health- perhaps we will walk or cycle more? Take the sting out of the fuel price hikes by thinking about how our h
ealth and the environment will benefit as well as reading these green driving tips:
Green driving tips (beat the fuel price hikes!)
How to Hypermile and Drive Green
Driving is expensive and insurance premiums add to the expense; why not switch to green car insurance– you may get a better deal and you’ll be helping the environment.
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