By ETimes
Zimbabwe and its southern neighbour, South Africa, have independently resolved to reduce fuel prices in tandem as Brent Crude prices, exchange rate movements and taxes move in their favour.
This saw the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) adjust its pump prices on Thursday with immediate effect. Diesel 50 was down 1.19% in USD terms. It dropped by US$0.02 to US$1.66 from US$1.68.
However, petrol saw a slight increase in price as it was up 1.29% in USD terms. Blend moved up by $0.02 to US$1.57 from US$1.55.
The adjustments came two days after South Africa had issued a statement on fuel effective 2 January 2024.
SA motorists will get some relief at the pumps at the start of the new year with the price of petrol and diesel set to fall.
Petrol (93 ULP and LRP) will fall by 62 cents per litre from Wednesday, while 95 ULP and LRP will fall by 76.00 cents per litre, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced.
Diesel will be cut by 118.32 cents per litre (0.05% sulphur) and 126.32 cents per litre (0.005% sulphur).
Zimbabwean and South African fuel prices are largely determined by international oil costs and the rand exchange rate (for South Africa), as oil is priced in dollars.
The main driver of the fall in prices was a decrease in crude oil prices due to increased production by the US, Venezuela, Guyana, and other non-OPEC countries, as the average Brent Crude price decreased from US$82.62 to US$77.35 in the period.
For South Africa the rand slightly depreciated on average against the dollar, from R18.57 to R18.66 during the period – Harare