Energy Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has increased the retail prices of Super Petrol, Kerosene and Diesel by Ksh 9.90 per liter effective midnight Thursday.
Super petrol will now retail at 144.62, diesel at 125.50 while kerosene will be 113.44.
According to EPRA, the prices are inclusive of the 8% Value Added Tax (VAT) in line with the provisions of the Finance Act 2018, the Tax Law (Amendment) Act 2020 and the revised rates for excise duty adjusted for inflation as per Legal Notice No.194 of 2020.
“The average landed cost of imported Super Petrol increased by 20.47% from US$676.40 per cubic metre in February 2022 to US$814.85 per cubic metre in March 2022; Diesel increased by 24.70% from US$677.31 per cubic metre to US$844.57 per cubic metre while Kerosene increased by 11.84% from US$619.57 per cubic metre to US$692.95 per cubic metre.” Noted EPRA.
For the last couple of weeks the country has been experiencing fuel crisis with motorists queuing for long for the commodity.
This even as Kenya Pipeline Company insists that the country is well stocked.
Acting Petroleum and Mining Cabinet Secretary Dr Monica Juma Thursday afternoon 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.
According to the cabinet secretary, the state has already released Kshs. 49.2 billion to OMC to subsidize fuel prices.
“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).
She spelt out a raft of measures against OMCs saying, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has issued show cause letters to those OMCs that failed to meet the required minimum operational stock levels and thus resulted in stock outs at their respective retail stations pursuant to the Energy (Minimum Operational Stock) Regulations of 2008.
“In view of the foregoing, I therefore confirm to the nation that the CEO of Rubis Kenya has left the country” said Juma.
Adding that: “That the Ministry of Petroleum & Mining has filled the requisite complains with the sector regulator, competition authority and the state security agencies led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for all Oil Marketing Companies that have contravened the law by engaging in acts of economic sabotage.”
Further she noted that the government will go to the full hog to bring all persons and companies who are in breach of their licensing and operating guidelines to book.
Already, Rubis Energy Chief Executive Officer Jean-Christian Bergeron is said to be in trouble over the role of the oil company in the intermittent supply of fuel currently being experienced.
The Government through the Kenya Pipeline Company reiterates that there are enough fuel stocks to meet the demand both for local and regional consumption.
“KPC’s current stock position in all their facilities …indicates that there are over 69 million litres of super petrol, more than 94 million litres of diesel, more than 13 million litres of kerosene and over 23 million litres of jet fuel available,” assured KPC Managing Director, Dr Macharia Irungu.
“Our global stock holding is adequate to serve the region, with more ships in Mombasa queued for discharge,” Dr Irungu added.
In the 2022/23 budget presented last week Thursday, the government spared fuel from the proposed 10% excise duty increase on unnamed commodities as the it explores ways to finance the record high Kshs. 3.31 trillion budget.
“In the Bill, I have also proposed to increase the specific rates of excise duty for a number of products by 10 per cent to generate additional revenue for the Government. Given the recent global increase in oil prices, I have excluded petroleum products from this increase,” said CS Yatani.
Also read https://www.kbc.co.ke/losers-and-gainers-proposed-10pc-excise-duty-increase-on-fuel-shelved/
https://www.kbc.co.ke/fuel-crisis-energy-ministry-outlines-action-against-oil-marketers/
