M.Phil. / This research aims to establish and evaluate the main factors that influence the fuel industry in South Africa. The South African fuel industry, is influenced by different business, economical and logistical factors, which all contribute to a changing fuel environment as well as a changing fuel prices that vary on a monthly basis, as calculated by the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs(DMEA). These factors including crude oil procurement, petroleum industry, synthetic fuel industry and geographical locations, are fundamentally important, and explained in more detail in the chapters to follow. Oil as main supply source to the fuel industry, plays a vital role to South Africa as industrial developing country. The crude oil imported from the eastern countries is refined into petroleum and alternative fuels, necessary to the economy. The oil price thus influences the petroleum price, which in turn influences the cost of food and accessories. This research will for this reason also focus on aspects such as the actual importation of crude oil, petroleum price structure, price zones, synfuels and alternative fuels, and the affect these aspects have on the fuel industry.