A rallying oil price, combined with a weaker rand, will result in a sharp hike in fuel prices on Wednesday this week.

Petrol (both 93 and 95) will see an increase of R1.21 a litre, while the price of diesel (0.05% and 0.005% sulphur) will rise by 148.2c a litre.

The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin will be hiked by R1.45 a litre, the department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) announced in a statement.

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

The average Brent oil price increased from $75.50 in September to $83.40 per barrel in October – reaching its highest level in three years.

“The key driver (of higher oil) is the higher global demand recovery, amid a weaker supply response from non-OPEC and other oil producers,” the DMRE said. “The situation was exacerbated by the impact of the current gas challenges experienced by European countries (…) on the prices of energy commodities.”

The price of gas has more than quadrupled this year in some parts of Europe, as suppliers struggle to keep up with demand.

In addition, the rand weakened from an average rate of R14.56/$ in September to R14.72/$ in October.

Contributing to the fuel price hikes is an increase of 2.20c a litre (from 13.16 c/l to 15.36 c/l) in the so-called Slate levy. This is paid to fuel companies to compensate them for imbalances that build up over time due to the way that the basic fuel price is calculated. As at end-September, these companies were owed almost R1.7 billion