You will now pay more for petrol, kerosene, diesel

By Macharia Kamau

In what has become a monthly trend for close to a year now, fuel prices will go up today (Saturday), by almost Sh3 on average. A litre of petrol will retail at Sh120.50.

In its monthly pricing guiding, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) increased the maximum retail prices oil firms would charge for petrol, diesel and kerosene to signal more trouble for consumers already hard hit by rising inflation and a deflated shilling.

In Nairobi, the price of a litre of super petrol will go up by Sh2.75, while diesel climbs to Sh2.77 per litre and kerosene Sh1.66.

Super petrol will retail at Sh120.50 a litre in Nairobi for the next one month beginning today, up from Sh117 witnessed in the last four weeks. Diesel will retail at Sh110,94, up from Sh108, while kerosene will sell at Sh89.95.

Far flung towns will pay higher because of the distance between them and Mombasa. Residents of Lokichogio will pay the highest at Sh129 for a litre of petrol, Sh119.98 for diesel and Sh98 for kerosene.

While demand for petrol is low in such towns, residents also rely heavily on kerosene for lighting and cooking and also have a lower spending power compared to urban areas. ERC attributed the increase to volatile crude oil prices in the international markets as well as a weak local currency.

"There has been an erratic trend in the prices of crude and imported refined products in the international market coupled with volatile performance of key economies of the world," said Kaburu Mwirichia director general ERC in a statement Friday.

"The local currency has depreciated relative to the US dollar and this has also impacted negatively in the local pump prices."

He said the regulator had attempted to cushion kerosene consumers from the high cost of the fuel.

"To cushion kerosene consumers from the impact of the rising international prices, the Commission has maintained a lower maximum allowed wholesale margin of kerosene at Sh4 per litre instead of Sh6," said the statement by Mwirichia.