According to the latest data from the Central Energy Fund, petrol and diesel prices currently look set for large increases in the first week of April.

Local fuel prices are determined by international oil prices - as well as the dollar-rand value, as South Africa buys oil in dollar.

At current levels, 95 octane petrol looked set for a R2.32/litre hike in April. This would push the price of 95 petrol to more than R23.90/litre in Gauteng. A year ago, a litre petrol in Gauteng cost R16.32.

The CEF data shows that, at current levels, 93 petrol would have to be increased by R2.26.

Diesel prices currently look set for hikes of between R3.09/litre to R3.20, while paraffin would increase by R2.69.

There are still almost three weeks until the final price adjustment for April is determined. Rand strength and oil price weakness during the rest of the month could result in smaller increases.

Oil prices have been soaring amid the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is the world’s third largest producer of crude oil, and the expectation that it will be locked out of the market has caused a surge in oil prices. Traders are scrambling to secure oil supplies with Russia, unable to deliver some of its oils due to shipping and banking restrictions.

On Tuesday, the US announced that it would ban the import of Russian crude oil. This pushed the Brent crude oil price close to $140 a barrel. It has since subsided to around $124.

While Europe has not yet sanctioned Russian imports, two of the largest buyers - Shell and BP - have pledged not to buy crude oil from Russia.

The UK also said it would phase out Russian crude imports by the end of 2022.