Filling up with petrol and diesel is much more expensive in 2023

South African motorists will see some relief from high petrol prices at the start of 2023. However, they will still pay as much as R148.80 more to fill their tanks than they did in January last year.

Those with diesel cars are paying over R170 more per tank than 12 months ago.

Motorists in the country suffered the effects of higher petrol prices throughout 2022, with prices increasing by almost 20% between January and December 2022.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) published South Africa’s official fuel price changes for January on Saturday, 31 December 2022.

The retail prices for unleaded 93 and 95 will drop by R2.06 a litre from today, Wednesday, 4 January 2023.

South African motorists with diesel-powered vehicles will see more relief, with 50ppm reducing by around R2.81 and 500ppm by about R2.69.

It’s worth noting that the diesel price came down in the last few months of 2022. At its peak in November, these motorists paid 48% more per litre than at the beginning of the year.

South African petrol price chart: January 2022 to January 2023

According to Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) data, 0.05% diesel was priced at R17.28 inland in January  2022 and peaked at R25.49. The price will drop to R21.23 per litre in January 2023.

Looking at petrol, South Africans were paying R19.36 per litre of unleaded 93 and R19.61 for unleaded 95 inland at the start of 2022.

The prices peaked at R26.31 and R26.74, respectively, in July 2022. The price of unleaded 93 and unleaded 95 will drop to R21.10 and R21.40 per litre, respectively.

Interestingly, the petrol price peak in July 2022 occurred when the government’s R1.50 petrol reprieve was still in effect, meaning the price could have been as high as R27.81 for unleaded 93 and R28.24 for unleaded 95.

Several factors contributed to South Africa’s higher petrol prices in 2022, including supply constraints caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the strong dollar, and the weakening rand.

Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, resulting in severe oil supply interruptions, including sanctions against Russia.

South African diesel price chart: January 2022 to January 2023

According to data from Oilprice.com, oil was selling for $76.08 a barrel at the start of the year — R1,208 at the time.

It peaked at $123.70 in March 2022 and has since returned to $76.12 (R1,334).

Although the oil price has dropped to similar levels as in January last year, the weakening rand has made it more expensive in South Africa.

One US dollar was worth around R15.90 in January 2022, and it had climbed to R17.53 as of 15 December — an increase of around 10%.

Some good news is that the rand broke through R17.00 per dollar on Wednesday. It was trading at R16.82 at the time of publication.

The DMRE’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) attributed January 2023’s reductions to declining average international product prices for these fuels.

In addition, the rand appreciated slightly against the US dollar, making it cheaper to buy fuel than in November.

“The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period 2 December to 28 December 2022 was 17.2815 compared to 17.5338 during the previous period,” the CEF explained.

“This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 15.27 c/l, 18.81 c/l, and 19.20 c/l respectively.”

Filling your car’s tank

Using the AA’s petrol and diesel price data, MyBroadband calculated how much more it costs for South Africans to fill their tanks today than it did at the start of 2022.

We used common fuel tank sizes of 45, 60, and 80 litres for our calculations, and found that cars with smaller tanks cost as much as R80.55 more to fill with unleaded 95, and upwards of R177.75 more for 0.05% diesel.

South Africans whose cars have 60-litre fuel tanks are paying R107.40 more per tank for unleaded 95 and R237.00 for 0.05% diesel, while those with larger 80-litre tanks are paying R148.80 and R316.00 more, respectively.

The table below compares the prices to fill up petrol and diesel tanks of various sizes in January 2022 and 2023 with unleaded 95 petrol and 0.05% diesel, both inland and at the coast.

Now read: Toyota Fortuner theft is so rampant, this insurer demands some customers install two trackers