Poor households have been the hardest hit in the latest fuel pump prices review, with a litre of the fuel going up by Sh2.96.
A litre of the fuel commonly used by poor households for lighting and cooking will now retail at Sh99.46 for the next one month.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in its monthly pricing guide released yesterday, however, spared consumers of diesel and super petrol, with a litre of the two products going up marginally by 0.65 cents and Sh1.26 respectively in Nairobi.
A litre of the two petroleum products will now retail at Sh96.61 and Sh101.35 respectively.
The latest announcement brings to an end a three-month reprieve in which motorists and poor households reaped the benefits of lower fuel pump prices.
Last month, diesel consumers, mainly transporters and manufacturers, were the biggest beneficiaries after the regulator reduced the price of a litre of the fuel by Sh6.28 to retail at Sh95.96 in Nairobi.
According to latest price caps, a litre of super petrol in Mombasa will retail at Sh98.72 while diesel will go for Sh93.99 a litre, up from Sh93.36 previously.
In Mandera, the further town from Mombasa where the fuel lands, a litre of petrol will retail for Sh114.20, up from Sh112.94 previously.
The low price of crude oil in the international market has been a boon for Kenya, gifting the country cheaper fuel.
The price reduction in the last three months followed the sudden spike occasioned by the introduction of value added tax on petroleum products last year that saw petrol retail for as much as Sh140 per litre in far-flung towns.
ERC started lowering prices in December and on January 14, the regulator announced one of the biggest reductions in petroleum prices since it started regulating maximum retail price in 2010.
At the time, the price of diesel fell by Sh10 a litre while super petrol went down by Sh9 a litre.
The drop announced yesterday was despite a marginal increase in the cost of crude oil during January compared with prices in December.
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