'Don't expect petrol price relief until next year'

South Africans should not expect decreases in the price of petrol until early next year, according to economist Mike Schussler. He told FTW the price of petrol would in all likelihood increase again towards the end of the year as politics in the Middle East continued to drive up the price of oil. The retail price of 93 octane petrol and 95 octane petrol increased by 21c and 23c a litre respectively last Wednesday while the price of 0.05% sulphur diesel increased to 39.16c/l and that of 0.005% sulphur diesel to 40.16c/l. Petrol 95 ULP octane in Gauteng now costs R12.20/l, while at the coast it costs R11.85/l. “Indications are that we will reach the R12.50 mark before we start seeing any significant decreases,” said Schussler. “Oil prices have come down slightly due to Saudi Arabia releasing some of its oil. At present the situation really is very simple as politics is the only real driver of the oil price and to predict that is impossible.” He said indications, however, were that the situation was at the upper end of the cycle. “I think we could possibly see a slight decline and then one or two rises towards the middle of next year before we will see any significant decrease in the prices. The world economy is likely to remain weak and so the only thing keeping oil prices up is politics.” He said it seemed as if Saudi Arabia, by releasing oil, was trying to calm the situation.