On Wednesday, the petrol price (both 93 and 95 unleaded) will be hiked by R1.71 a litre. The wholesale price of diesel will be increased by a painful R2.84 a litre. According to the Automobile Association (AA), this is a record price increase.  

Illuminating paraffin prices will be hiked by R2.78 a litre.

A litre of 95 unleaded petrol will now cost R24.54 in Gauteng, the highest level since August 2022. Meanwhile, the wholesale price of diesel in Gauteng will now be R23.05 a litre, a new high for 2023. In July last year, diesel reached a record high of R25.40.

South African fuel prices are largely determined by international oil costs and the rand exchange rate, as oil is priced in dollars.

In a statement, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said the average Brent crude oil price increased from $79.75 a barrel to $84.78 over the past month due to production cuts by Saudi Arabia.

"High prices of petrol are as a result of low inventories and refinery outages, which affected the production of blending components used in summer grade petrol making it more expensive to produce.

"Diesel and paraffin prices increased because of lower shipments of Russia’s Urals crude oil which is rich in middle distillates, as well as rising demand of middle distillates ahead of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere," the department said.

The average level of the rand-dollar exchange rate declined from R18.28 to R18.67 over the past month.