Petrol to sell at Sh. 144.62, diesel at Sh. 125.5

Fuel prices have risen to a new historic high in Kenya. Kenyan motorists will from midnight today buy petrol at Sh. 144.62. Diesel will sell at Sh. 125.5. Kerosene on the other hand will sell at Sh. 113.55 per litre.

This means that the prices have increased by about Sh. 9.9 per litre. A litre of petrol has until today been selling at Sh. 134.72. A litre of diesel has been selling at Sh. 115.6.

These new fuel prices will work under the petroleum subsidy the government has been running. In the absence of the subsidy, fuel prices would have risen by Sh. 40 per litre.

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“Without the subsidy, the prices are likely to jump by up to Sh. 40 a litre based on the cost of cargos that were shipped this month,” the CEO of a top marketer told a local daily on Thursday morning.

This would have pushed diesel prices to Sh. 155 a litre and petrol at Sh. 174. Last month, if there had be no subsidy, a litre of super would have increased to Sh. 155.11 while diesel would have retailed at Sh. 143.16 per litre of diesel.

Through the subsidy, the national treasury has been demanding that oil marketers sell their fuel at a loss. This loss is then supposed to be compensated by the government through the fuel subsidy.

However, the government has been failing to pay up, leaving oil marketers exposed to selling their fuel at a loss without any forthcoming compensation, and causing fuel prices to rise illegally as supply thins out.