Petrol prices goes up by E1.00, Diesel by 80c

• Petrol price will increase by E1.00 per Litre, diesel by 80 cents while paraffin goes up by 50 cents per litre
• The new prices will come into effect on Thursday, April 08, 2021 (effective Friday, March 9, 2021.

Mbabane: In hardly three (3) months the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy (MNRE) has taken a decision to increase fuel prices again, following the fuel price hike that was announced in February 2021.

Petrol price will increase by E1.00 per Litre, diesel price will increase by 80 cents per litre while illuminating paraffin prices go up by 50 cents per litre.

The new prices will come into effect at midnight of Thursday, April 08, 2021 (effective Friday, March 9, 2021.

In a statement released by the ministry’s Principal Secretary (PS) Dorcas Dlamini, the increase has been necessitated by the fact that in March 2021, the Brent Crude Oil prices increased to an average of US$66.46 a barrel compared to an average of US$65.69 a barrel realised in the month of February 2021.

The high oil prices are primarily a result of lower crude oil production from the members of OPEC and partners.

Dlamini added that the Lilangeni/Dollar exchange rate exacerbated the situation as it depreciated and averaged E15.01 in the month of March 2021 as compared to the E14.78 realised in the month of February, 2021.

The increase in the fuel prices will be as follows, the Unleaded Petrol (ULP 95) price will increase by E1.00 from E13.15 per litre to E14.15/Litre. Diesel 50ppm Sulphur (0.005 per cent S) price will increase by 80c per litre from E13.60 per litre E14.40, and the illuminating paraffin price will increase by 50 cents per litre from E8.65 per litre to E9.15 per litre.

“The ministry encourages the public to use fuel efficiently as the international oil markets and the Lilangeni / Dollar exchange rate remain volatile,” she added.

This is the second time government has taken the decision to increase fuel prices since the beginning of the year 2021.

In February 2021, the fuel prices were increase by 70 cents which saw the petrol prices staning at E13.15 per litre while diesel prices increased by 70 cents as well which saw the prices going up to E13.60.