More than 20bn (21,267 million) litres of liquid fuel is produced and consumed in South Africa each year, and more than 80% of these fuels are petrol (mogas) and diesel (gasoil). LPG comprised less than 3% of this demand in 2002.
The South African liquid fuels market is highly regulated in terms of the Petroleum Products Act, 1977. The actual retail prices of leaded and unleaded petrol and the wholesale price of diesel are determined monthly. The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin (IP) has been regulated for some time, and since 2 April 2003, the maximum retail price of IP has also been determined and will be published monthly. Currently only the maximum refinery gate price of LPG is regulated. As this is based on the basic price of 93 octane leaded petrol, it changes with that price. The supply of liquid fuels in South Africa is largely dependent on crude oil imports, and so their pricing is heavily influenced by international supply and demand trends.