South Africa Increases Price Of Petrol

South Africa has announced that the retail price of 93 octane petrol would rise by 50 cents a litre and 95 octane by 48 cents a litre on Wednesday, January 4, 2017.

The country’s Energy Department made this known in a statement in Johannesburg on Thursday,eNCA reports.

According to the statement, the wholesale price of diesel will go up by 39 cents a litre, while the wholesale cost of illuminating paraffin is set to increase by 43 cents a litre.

It also stated that the Single Maximum National Retail Price (SMNRP) of illuminating paraffin will see a hike of 58 cents a litre.

Those who seek to buy LP gas will pay R1.06 cents more per kilogram.

The department attributed the increases to an increase in international fuel prices and currency fluctuations.

“The average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin increased during the period under review,” the statement said.

“The average rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period December 2-28 2016 was 13.8704 compared with 13.9125 during the previous period.”

This led to decreases in the contribution to the basic fuels price on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 1.82 c/l, 1.75 c/l and 1.76 c/l respectively.

Octane is fuel’s ability to resist engine knock at high compression ratios. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before igniting.