Fuel prices up slightly as global market stabilises

A pump attendant fuels vehicles at Total Kimathi Street in Nairobi on May 14, 2020.

File | Nation Media Group

By  Edwin Okoth

What you need to know:

• Petrol in Nairobi will now retail at Sh105.28, recording a fourth rise in a row since it hit a four-year low in May when it retailed at Sh83.33 per litre.
• Diesel will record its first drop since May to sell at Sh94.51 per litre starting today.
• Kerosene, which jumped Sh18 per litre last month will now retail Sh0.50 lower at Sh83.15 per litre in Nairobi.
  

Motorist will pay just Sh1.33 per litre more for petrol and some Sh0.12 less for each litre of diesel in the adjustments presented by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
Petrol in Nairobi will now retail at Sh105.28, recording a fourth rise in a row since it hit a four-year low in May when it retailed at Sh83.33 per litre. Diesel will record its first drop since May to sell at Sh94.51 per litre starting today.

Kerosene, which jumped Sh18 per litre last month will now retail Sh0.50 lower at Sh83.15 per litre in Nairobi.
The adjustments are the smallest by margin since January due to the increased stability in the international crude oil prices.
Both motor fuels have been experiencing huge jumps in pump prices with diesel having increased by its largest margin in May as Covid-led fluctuations affected demand and producers agreed to cut supply.

EPRA Acting Director-General Mueni Mutunga said the changes came as a result of marginal adjustments in the international crude prices.
“The changes in this month’s prices are as a consequence of the average landed cost of imported super petrol increasing 2.65 percent from $319.23 per cubic metre in July 2020 to $327.69 per cubic metre in August 2020; Diesel decreasing by 1.02 percent from $333.27 per cubic metre to $329.98 per cubic metre and kerosene decreasing by 2.06 percent from $288.01 per cubic metre to $282.09 per cubic metre,” Ms Mutunga wrote in the statement announcing the new pump prices.
International crude prices have been stable in July and August when the current pump prices are based, causing a fair landed cost of the products. Brent last week touched a $40 per barrel for the first month since June as Saudi Arabia cut prices due to the market constraint brought by the corona virus.

Diesel consumers are expected to start enjoying price stability once the Ministry of Petroleum begins to apply the increased Fuel Development levy.
The levy, which increased to Sh5 per litre in the July pricing is expected to be used to cushion diesel consumers during price increases driven by international crude prices.