Kenya:Fuel prices rise in the midst of high cost of living

By Samuel Ouma | @journalist_27

Kenya Shell Petrol Station

High cost of fuels poses to add more miseries on already starving Kenyans as the high cost of life pushes the East African country’s residents to the wall.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory on Sunday announced the latest retail pump prices of petroleum products which took effect on Monday July 15 and will run up to August 14, 2019.

The price of super petrol has increased in five consecutive months while diesel and petroleum have decreased slightly as per the changes.

The adjustments have been attributed to an average landed cost of imported petroleum products and a drop of Kenya shilling against the US dollar.

“Super Petrol decreased by 1.8 per cent from $538 per cubic metre in May, 2019 to $528 in June 2019; Diesel decreased by 3.07 per cent from $536 to $519 per cubic metre and kerosene declined by 5.49 per cent from $533 to $504 per cubic metre,” said the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory director general Robert Oimeke.

The Free On Board (FOB) price of Murban  crude oil cost dropped from $72.35 per barrel to $64.80 per barrel whereas the mean monthly US dollar to Kenya shilling exchange rate depreciated by 0.68 per cent from May to June, 2019.

The modification in the price of petrol is also linked to 5.17 per cent annual inflation tax adjustment which saw excise duty levied on certain products such as fuel, alcohol, motorcycles and cigarettes.

The tax on Kerosene and diesel reduced while it increased on petrol.

“The pump prices are inclusive of eight per cent Value Added Tax in the line of the provisions of the Finance Act 2018 and the revised rates for exercise duty adjusted for inflation via legal notice of 109 of 9 July 2019,” reiterated Oimeke.