Energy ministry outlines action against oil marketers

Fuel Crisis: Energy ministry outlines action against oil marketers

Acting Petroleum and Mining Cabinet Secretary Dr Monica Juma has announced a raft of measures against the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) amid sustained fuel shortage across the country.

Dr. Juma has accused the oil marketers of economic sabotage despite addressing their concerns and evidence that there is sufficient stock of petroleum in the country to meet monthly demand until June this year.

According to the cabinet secretary, the state has already released Kshs. 49.2 billion to OMC to subsidize fuel prices.

The government had earlier paid out Kshs. 34.4 billion to OMCs.

“On assessment of this situation, of filled storage capacity at Kenya Pipeline Company and ships delayed to dock and discharge because the KPC capacity is filled to the brim and yet we witness queues and droves of Kenyans making night vigils to secure a gallon of fuel, can modestly be described as economic sabotage,” said the Dr Juma.

The ministry says some OMC were hoarding the fuel in a bid to cash in after the monthly fuel review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) which is slated later Thursday.

Dr Juma says the marketers have also been found to be diverting fuel earmarked for local consumption for export to their advantage.

As a result, the government has now announced actions being taken against companies engaging in the vice which the CS says if left unchecked would “plunge the nation into energy insecurity.”

Rubis Kenya which is among the largest OMCs in the country has had its Chief Executive Officer Jean-Christian Bergeron deported after the state revoked his work permit for being part of the economic sabotage.

The OMCs are also required to explain to EPRA why they failed to meet the required minimum operational stock levels which led to fuel outage in their retail stations with investigations from Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also underway.

“We will go to the full hog to bring all persons and companies who are in breach of their licensing and operating guidelines to book, as we cannot allow private entities or any other person to disrupt our way of life and our cherished freedoms,’ she added.

OMCs who sold above their normal local quota during the crisis period will benefit from additional capacity, while those who sold less will have their respective capacity reduced as the government embarks on reallocating the petroleum import capacity.

The National Oil Corporation of Kenya (National Oil) is further expected take up the 30% of its import quota in a bid to ease the fuel crunch.