Kenyan households are likely to enjoy reduced Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) gas price should talks initiated by the Kenyan government and Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian company, are solidified.
Bloomberg first reported on Monday that Kenya was looking to acquire a floating LPG facility near the Port of Mombasa.
According to Kenya Pipeline Company Chief Executive Officer Joe Sang, the facility is expected to process up to 30,000 tons of fuel.
The facility will be temporary as the country kickstarts the process of building a permanent LPG processing plant whose tender will be floated in two months.
According to Sang, if a deal is reached, the facility will boost the supply of locally-made cooking gas by an additional 30,000 tonnes hence reducing the gas prices. The facility is expected to complement Taifa Gas Company which was launched in February 2023. Specific details of the deal, however, remain under wraps.
Since taking over the reins, President William Ruto made it clear that promoting clean energy was part of his manifesto.
In the Finance Bill of last year, the Head of State scrapped three taxes levied on the product including 8 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT).
Other taxes exempted were 3.5 per cent Import Declaration Fees and the 2 per cent Railway Development Levy.
At the time, the Energy Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director General Daniel Kiptoo attributed the relative drop in the LPG price to the drastic decision to remove select taxes.
Vendors confirmed at the time that a 13kg cylinder dropped to Ksh2,500 from Ksh3,000.
At the beginning of 2023, the Head of State had also promised to introduce a mechanism that would reduce the cost of a cooking gas cylinder from Ksh2,800 to Ksh300.
At the time, the plan, which has not completely taken effect, was aimed at reducing the cost of living.
He also directed the Ministry of Interior to commence registration of all gas refilling stations to ensure that they were licensed.
"By 2025, we expect all our schools and other institutions to have put in place mechanisms that ensure a modern way of cooking by cooking gas," he stated.
The government is also determined to introduce piped gas for homes to further lower costs.
