Petrol prices will drop by 30c a litre on Wednesday‚ taking the Gauteng price of 93 octane to R13.90 a litre‚ the Department of Energy announced at the weekend.

South African retail petrol prices and wholesale diesel prices are set by a government department‚ the Central Energy Fund (CEF)‚ on the last Friday of each month to take effect on the first Wednesday of the coming month.

February’s price for 93 octane on the coast will drop to R13.81 a litre.

The CEF provides historical prices for Gauteng 95 octane petrol — which carries an additional 10c tax not charged on 93 octane — which show the price peaked at R14.76 in December and will fall to R14.12 on Wednesday.

The wholesale price of diesel will drop by 17c to R12.59 a litre for low sulphur fuel. In contrast to petrol‚ the government’s fuel price laws allow service stations to compete on price for diesel customers.

The Department of Energy’s statement said the 30c drop in the price of both 93 and 95 octane petrol was thanks to the stronger rand.

Although the average price of Brent crude oil rose to $69.11 from $64.08 a barrel of January‚ this was offset by the rand strengthening to R12.20 from R13.23 to the dollar.