News reports on fuel prices almost always mention the price of oil, usually Brent and sometimes WTI. Both are crude oil benchmarks, but they measure different things.
Brent
Brent is a light, sweet crude benchmark based on North Sea production. Because it is waterborne and widely traded, it serves as the reference price for a large share of the world’s crude, including much of the oil traded into Africa, Europe and Asia. When South African commentators cite the oil price, they generally mean Brent.
WTI
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is the US benchmark, priced at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. It is also light and sweet, and usually trades at a small discount to Brent, reflecting its inland delivery point and US supply conditions.
Crude is not the whole story
South Africa imports a growing share of its fuel as refined product rather than crude. The Basic Fuel Price is therefore based on international prices for refined products — petrol, diesel and jet fuel — not on crude directly. Product prices generally follow crude, but refining margins, known as “cracks”, can widen or narrow independently, particularly for diesel during periods of supply disruption.
How to use the benchmarks
Brent is a good early indicator of where fuel prices are heading. For commercial buyers, though, the more relevant signals are diesel and petrol product prices and the rand–dollar rate. You can follow indicative benchmarks in the market bar at the top of this site.
Published by African Energy Enterprises. This article is general information and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Regulated prices and rules change; confirm current figures with the relevant authority.
