Brent Crude Oil Price Today Live
The current Brent crude oil price, updated continuously throughout the trading day, converted into South African rand at the live USD/ZAR exchange rate.
Updated 08:35 UTC · Source: Stooq.
Brent Crude Price Chart
Hover (or tap on mobile) the chart to see the price on any day. Use the buttons to switch between 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year.
What Drives the Brent Crude Price?
Brent crude oil prices respond to a small number of repeating forces. Understanding them helps you anticipate where South African petrol and diesel prices will move at the next Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) adjustment.
OPEC+ production quotas, US shale output, geopolitical disruption in producer countries (Russia, Iran, Libya, Venezuela), and pipeline or shipping disruptions in chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Global GDP growth, China's industrial appetite, seasonal driving and heating cycles, jet-fuel recovery, and the rate at which EVs displace ICE vehicles in major markets.
The EIA's weekly US crude inventory report (Wednesdays) and OECD floating storage levels both move price within hours of release.
Brent is dollar-denominated, so a stronger USD typically pushes Brent lower in dollar terms but can leave the rand cost flat or higher — the rand/dollar rate is half of the SA pump-price equation.
Brent vs WTI Crude
| Aspect | Brent (ICE: B) | WTI (NYMEX: CL) |
|---|---|---|
| Source region | North Sea (UK / Norway) | West Texas, USA |
| API gravity | ~38° | ~39.6° |
| Sulphur content | 0.37% (sweet) | 0.24% (sweeter) |
| Delivery | Seaborne — global cargoes | Pipeline — landlocked Cushing, OK |
| Used as benchmark for | Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia (~⅔ of world) | North America |
| Relevance to SA | Primary benchmark — used in BFP formula | Secondary — only as a directional signal |
Brent Crude & The South African Petrol Price
The DMRE's Basic Fuel Price (BFP) formula doesn't price crude directly — it prices imported refined petrol and diesel, but those refined-product prices track Brent extremely closely. As a rule of thumb:
- A $1 / barrel change in Brent moves the BFP by roughly 10 South African cents per litre at current exchange rates.
- A 10 cent change in the rand/dollar rate moves the BFP by roughly 14 cents per litre.
- The cumulative daily swings over each month settle on the first Wednesday of the following month, when the DMRE announces the new pump price.
See the live SA petrol price and diesel price pages, or use the oil-price converter to model your own scenarios.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Brent crude oil per barrel right now?
Brent crude is trading at $93.54 per barrel, equivalent to R1,530.05 per barrel at today's USD/ZAR rate of R16.3572.
Is the Brent price on this page live?
Brent futures (ICE: B / NYMEX: BZ=F) require an exchange data licence for true tick-by-tick prices, so we use public feeds delayed by roughly 15 minutes and refresh the page every 10 minutes.
Why is Brent priced in US dollars?
All globally traded crude is dollar-priced — a legacy of post-WWII Bretton Woods agreements and the OPEC convention. That's why USD/ZAR matters as much to South African fuel prices as the dollar Brent quote itself.
What is one barrel of oil?
One barrel = 42 US gallons = 158.987 litres = 0.159 cubic metres. The "barrel" unit is historical — physical Brent today is shipped in tankers carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels.
How often does the Brent price change?
The Brent futures contract trades almost 24 hours a day on the ICE exchange, with prices changing every few seconds during active hours. Daily settlement happens at 19:30 London time.