Kenya’s energy industry regulator on Tuesday increased retail prices for super petrol, diesel and kerosene by different price margins in the latest review for July.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the prices of super petrol increase by 1.31 shillings to retail at 98.59 shillings (0. 976 U.S. dollars) per litre, diesel will increase by 0.96 shillings to retail at 62.74 shillings (0.857 dollars) per litre while kerosene increases by 2.03 shillings to sell at 59.24 shillings (0.621 dollars) per litre.
“This was a result of the weighted average cost of imported super petrol increasing by 2.22 percent from 703.37 dollars per tonne in May to 718.97 dollars per tonne in June,” ERC Director General Engineer Joseph Ng’ang’a said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
Analysts say the new prices could see the cost of living slightly go up given the heavy reliance on diesel, super petrol and kerosene for transport, energy generation and agriculture especially among the low income earners whose kerosene for cooking.
Over the same period, the average landed cost of imported diesel increased by 1.41 percent from 602.46 dollars per tonne to 610.94 dollars per tonne.
Ng’ang’a said the average landed cost of imported kerosene during the same period decreased by 2.20 percent from 633.13 dollars per tonne to 619.21 dollars per tonne.
According to ERC, the Free On Board (FOB) price of Murban crude oil lifted in June to 63.70 dollars per barrel, a decrease of 3.12 percent from 65.75 dollars per barrel in May.
Meanwhile, the mean monthly U.S. dollar to Kenya shilling exchange rate depreciated from 96.86 shillings per dollars in May to 98.13 shillings per dollar in June 2015, representing 1.31 percent depreciation.
The purpose of the fuel pricing regulations is to cap the pump prices of the products which are already in the country, so that the importation and other prudently incurred costs are recovered, while ensuring reasonable prices to consumers. Enditem
