Petrol prices jump to highest level since 2014

Peter Mikisi a petrol station attendant in Nakuru fuels a car on June 14,2018. [Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

The retail price of petrol will this morning hit Sh112 per litre in Nairobi, the highest since August 2014.

The price of the fuel has risen for the last 11 consecutive months following a surge in the price of crude oil in the international market.

In its latest price capping guide, the Energy Regulatory Commission has increased the price of super petrol by Sh3.39 per litre in Nairobi.

This will push up the price of a litre of petrol to Sh112.20 per litre in the city up from Sh108.81 per litre in the past 30 days. The prices are comparable to what was in place in August 2014 when a litre of petrol was retailing at Sh116 in Nairobi.

ERC, however, revised downwards the retail prices of diesel and kerosene, albeit marginally. The energy industry regulator attributed the changes in prices to the high cost of crude oil.

“Taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products, the changes in the maximum allowed petroleum pump prices in Nairobi are as follows – super petrol increase by Sh3.39 while diesel and kerosene decrease by Sh0.35 and Sh1.48 per litre respectively,” said ERC in a statement.

Increase taxes

Motorists in far-flung towns will be paying upwards of Sh120 per litre of petrol. Mandera has the highest retail prices at Sh126. Others that pay equally high prices include Lokichogio (Sh121.93) and Wajir (Sh120).

Diesel will remain flat at Sh103.40 in Nairobi compared to Sh103.60 in June. Kerosene, used for poor households for lighting will reduce slightly to Sh85.73 per litre from Sh87.20.

The marginal reduction in price of kerosene comes after a Sh9 per litre increase in June, which included a Sh3.10 increase following increase in excise duty at the beginning of July. There was also a Sh5.88 increase in the monthly adjustments by ERC in mid-June.

Kerosene might be subject of further price adjustments as the Government evaluates proposals by ERC to increase taxes on the fuel in the fight against adulteration.

Unscrupulous businesses mix the relatively cheaper kerosene with diesel and super petrol to push up volumes of the latter two products. This, in turn, harms engines and the environment.

“Motor fuels adulteration is detrimental to the economy with conservative estimates putting the total loss to the country at Sh9.2 billion per annum. This in addition to high vehicle maintenance costs that result after consumption of adulterated fuels,” said ERC in the statement Saturday.

“Motorists who experience jerking, loss of engine power and excessive smoke from the vehicle’s exhaust after refuelling are urged to report the matter to the Commission.”