Price of fuel to decrease this September

By Staff Writer

The prices of all grades of fuel are set to drop this September, according to the Automobile Association (AA), which commented on unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund.

The association’s outlook for September is that petrol will drop by around 11c a litre, diesel by up to 21c a litre, and illuminating paraffin by around 12c.

“International petroleum prices continued their gradual retreat during August, having pulled back by around 10% since the start of the month. We attribute this mainly to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel, which increased oil production gradually during the first half until previous production restrictions

were removed,” the association said.

The AA noted, however, that the Rand weakened a fair amount against the US dollar in August, meaning that South African fuel users will not enjoy the whole benefit of the lower oil price.

The association said it is concerned about the trajectory of the Rand, whose average exchange rate against the US dollar has weakened considerably since 6 July. The Rand slid from around R14.32 on that day to over R14.70, with daily highs peaking in excess of R15.30.

Source: Bizcommunity.com