The petrol price is set to decline by close to R2 in May to its lowest levels in four years due to an unprecedented decline in global oil prices.

The price of 95 unleaded petrol inland in May is therefore set to be around R12.21 a litre – lower than what it was in May 2013.

The South African fuel prices are calculated once a month by the department of energy, based on data supplied CEF on daily movements in the exchange rate and the oil price.

Brent crude oil has been trading below $16.50 a barrel on Wednesday morning, its lowest price in 20 years, predominantly due to a global slowdown in demand due to Covid-19. Transport has come to a standstill in many places as more than a third of the world’s population is currently in lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the world is running out of storage space to keep all the oil that is being pumped out. In the US, this has resulted in traders paying buyers to take oil off their hands – which meant that some oil prices fell below zero.