We may be in for even tougher times according to T-sec economist Mike Schussler. There could be another fuel price increase in August by between 20 and 40 cents. This coming off the back of an increase on July 2. The reason behind the potential August increase is because the world oil markets right now are very volatile and know one really knows what is going to happen. For the current month there was a 54 cent under-recovery overall for petrol and 60 cent under-recovery for diesel, this will most likely result in the 20 - 40 cents increase.

Schussler then went on to say that we may not have reached the worst yet in terms of fuel prices. The last quarter of the year could see South Africans paying as much as R12 for a litre of petrol. This is attributed to the fact that the northern hemisphere will be having winter in that time and their demand for oil will increase as they need heating during the winter months. If this happens; one can only imagine how the local economy is going to fair. Many people have already started using their cars fewer times than they used to, some have de-graded their cars to have smaller and more fuel efficient cars. The strength of the rand also plays an important part in determining the fuel prices so a close eye also has to be kept on the local currency.

There may be some light at the end of the tunnel next year when new oil fields start producing oil onto the market. How much of a difference this will make still remains to be seen. For now we just have to face the fact that fuel is becoming increasingly expensive not only in South Africa but the rest of the world.

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