Diesel down, petrol up

The pump price of 95 Octane and 93 Octane petrol increased by 6c/l on 3 February, with the wholesale price of diesel decreasing by 62c/l (0,05% sulphur) and 63c/l (0,005% sulphur).

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The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin dropped by 59c/l and the single maximum national retail price decreased by 79c/l. The maximum retail price of liquid petroleum gas (LPGas) decreased by 1c/kg.

The petrol price increase is mainly due to “tightness in the market” because some major US refineries were on unplanned shutdown and the weakening of rand against the US dollar, said a department of energy press release.

The decrease in diesel and paraffin prices is due to oversupply in the global market following a mild Northern Hemisphere winter.

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"Had the exchange rate remained flat in 2015, South Africans would currently have been paying, on average, 45c/litre less at the pumps," said the Automobile Association (AA) in a press release.