The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director General Daniel Kiptoo on Wednesday, April 12, remained cagey on whether Kenyans should anticipate lower fuel prices after the government sealed an oil deal with the Gulf states.
While appearing before the Public and Investment Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, Kiptoo admitted that the regulator did not have control over the matter since a lot of internal and external factors influence pricing.
He noted that EPRA would continue to employ measures that would safeguard Kenyans moving forward.
"As to whether we will see a reprieve in terms of cost. I want to state that because this is a global retailing commodity we don't have control over that. I want to assure you that we will continue to work on efficiencies to ensure that Kenyans get a reprieve going forward," he noted.
"If there's a gain, we as a regulator will be able to pass the benefits to the common mwananchi. In the event there is a loss, it will be passed through to the consumer," Kiptoo added.
Among the issues that the David Pkosing-led committee sought to probe included the alleged non-compliance in terms of recruitment of personnel and non-disclosure of donor funding.
Another pertinent issue involved the 2019 contract for the provision of petroleum gas whereby a report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu alleged that the regulator could not account for Ksh7.4 million.
During the meeting, the EPRA DG emphasized the measures being undertaken to ensure that their corporate governance framework complied with the highest standards.
On Friday, April 14, all eyes will be on the regulator as it reviews monthly pump prices, which will remain in place for the next 30 days.
At the moment, super petrol, diesel and kerosene retail at Ksh179.3, Ksh162 and Ksh145.95 per litre respectively in Nairobi.
Oil Deal
The first oil acquisition purchased under Government to Government deal docked at Mombasa port on Thursday, April 13. Reports indicated that three Gulf companies were contracted to supply oil to the Kenyan market.
These included Saudi Arabia's Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation Global Trading (ADNOC) and Emirate’s National Oil Company (NOC).
On the other hand, three Kenyan firms, Gulf Energy Limited, Oryx Energies Kenya Limited, and Galana Oil Kenya Limited, were reportedly handpicked by the Gulf companies to supply fuel to other local oil marketers.
The tender will expire after nine months beginning April 2023.
