Johannesburg - The official petrol and diesel prices for April have been announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, and it’s good news for those with diesel vehicles.
From Wednesday, April 5, a litre of 50ppm diesel will decrease by 75 cents, while the dirtier 500ppm will be 74 cents cheaper. Illuminating paraffin sees a R1.24 per litre decrease.
Petrol prices see little change this month, with 93 Unleaded petrol decreasing by one cent per litre and 95 Unleaded increasing by two cents.
This means that a litre of 95 octane will now cost you R22.32 at the coast and R22.97 inland, where 95 octane will now cost R22.64.
As for diesel, the wholesale price of this unregulated fuel comes down to R20.26 at the coast and R20.97 inland, but keep in mind that retail prices will be somewhat higher than that. Either way, refuelling your diesel-powered bakkie or SUV with 70 litres will save you R52 at the pumps.
Although international oil prices decreased during March, the South African rand depreciated from an average of R17.74 to the US dollar the previous month to R18.03, and were it not for this we would have seen petrol price decreases of around 38 cents, while diesel would have come down by more than R1.
Looking ahead to May, although it is too early to predict next month’s fuel prices with any degree of accuracy, the early-month data is pointing towards a petrol price increase of around 50 cents per litre and a diesel decrease of just over R1.