Oil marketers raise fresh alarm over fuel shortage

By Standard Team

Oil marketers have warned of serious supply constraint in the coming months in the following the unresolved Triton scandal.

Players have warned of fresh hitches following limited storage capacity at the Kipevu oil terminal.

Eight oil tankers could not discharge imported oil products owing to unavailability of space at the facility.

The move comes after biting fuel shortages experienced last month in which many motorists saw it as a ploy by oil marketers to hoard the commodity with the intent of hiking prices during the Christmas holidays.

Ineffecient

Industry insiders, however, could not explain what was happening then, but it eventually emerged that in addition to the inefficient delivery system run by the Kenya Pipeline Company, the Government had in October hired a broke oil firm – Triton —to import the December supplies on behalf of the industry, but did not deliver.

The shortage was a first of many events that unfolded throughout last month and worsened this year. These include the placing under receivership of Triton in mid December and the eventual suspension of KPC managing director George Okungu.

Because of underhand deals between KPC and Ministry of Energy officials and Triton, both local and foreign financiers stand to lose Sh7.6 billion advanced to Triton.

This is in addition to amounts owed to other oil marketing companies that had paid Triton in advance for the December supplies, estimated to be over Sh1billion.

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