The year 2023 has started on a good note with fuel prices going down in the first week of the year. The department of mineral resources and energy made the announcement on Saturday.

PETROL DROP BY R2

The  Director of fuel pricing in the department of mineral resources and energy Robert Maake said both grades of petrol will drop by R2.06 cents a litre and diesel will drop by up to R2.68 and R2.80 cents per litre respectively, while the price of illuminating paraffin will decrease by R2.58 cents at the retail level and R1.93 at the wholesale level, however, LP Gas increase by 82 cents per kilogram.

REASON FOR REDUCTIONS

The department's Central Energy Fund (CEF) explained the reductions were driven by a stronger exchange rate and price decrease in international oil prices."The reason for these adjustments includes the lower prices of crude oil led to lower prices of all petroleum products and the stronger rand contributed around 15 to 20 cents per litre on the fuel price adjustment, the slate levy also decreased by 21.9 cents per litre on both petrol and diesel," said Maake.

RELIEF FOR MOTORiSTS

The price cuts would help ease the fuel price burden on motorists returning from the holidays as well as  consumers heading into the new year. "These decreases will not take fuel prices to levels seen in January 2022 but will, nonetheless, go a long way to alleviating the fuel price burden on South Africans."Maake added.