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Petrol and diesel prices will be hiked on Wednesday after conflict between Iran and Israel drove the oil price higher.

The price of both 93 and 95 unleaded petrol will be increased by 25c a litre. The wholesale price of diesel will be hiked by either 20c and 21c a litre, depending on the sulphur content.

The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin will go up by 21c a litre, while the maximum LP gas retail price will be increased by 36c/kg.

At the start of October, fuel prices were cut to the lowest levels since February 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused supply chain disruptions and restricted imports of Russian crude oil, which pushed oil prices to multi-year highs.

After the oil price came under pressure for some months, the average Brent Crude oil price increased from $72.82 a barrel to $75.07 over the past month, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources confirmed on Monday.

"The main contributing factor is the continued conflict in the Middle East and the stand-off between Iran and Israel," the department said in a statement.

Investors are not only concerned that an Israeli attack on Iran's oil facilities would only take Iranian crude off the market but that it would spur a wider conflict involving other regional oil producers, AFP reported.

South African fuel prices are also determined by the rand exchange rate, as oil is priced in dollars.

The rand traded at R17.53/$ on average over the past month, compared to R17.68 in September, the department said. But this was not enough to counter the stronger oil price.

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