The petrol price is likely to go up next month, with another increase expected in March, although the fuel crisis in the Cape has been averted.
The petrol price is likely to rise by about four cents next month, but a bigger increase is expected in March, although the fuel crisis in the Cape has been averted.
Colin McClelland, director of the South African Petroleum Industry Association, told CARtoday.com that the average under recovery was about one cent now, but the daily under recovery was much higher at 14 cents a litre.
“The daily price keeps the average price rising and the petrol price is likely to increase by three to four cents a litre next month if all the factors that the price depends on remain the same,” he said. The fuel cost will be based on the average price on January 25.
“However, the increase is likely to be much higher in March because of the higher daily under recovery right now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the fuel crisis in the Western Cape has ended. CARtoday.com reported earlier this month that the Western Cape used 45 million litres of high-octane fuel a month and there was a shortfall of 10 million litres. The Caltex refinery in Milnerton is the only one in the province and supplies petrol to all the oil companies in the Western Cape.
McClelland said at the time the shortage was a result of technical difficulties at Caltex, and there were problems producing high-octane fuel (95 octane unleaded and 97 octane leaded petrol). There were also more visitors to the Cape during the holiday season.
“The situation is now much better; we can see our way through this,” McClelland told the .
He said the oil companies received fuel in time and the Caltex refinery kept running. There could have been bigger problems if the refinery had stopped running earlier than expected.