Kenya: Fuel Shortages Set to End

Oil firms said Horizon Athena finished discharging the petrol to Kipevu Oil Storage Facility and 3.5 million litres will be offloaded to Shimanzi Oil Terminal at the week-end.  3.5 million litres to be offloaded to SOT will be pumped to Gapco’s depot.  Gapco imported the fuel for a neigbouring country, but had made a formal application to the Kenyan Government to sell the petrol locally to alleviate the shortage.

According to the local refinery, concerted efforts effected over the last two weeks to bring back on line all equipment affected by severe power outages had finally got results and platformer 1 is producing petrol.  The refineries’ communication’s manager, Mr Martin Wahome, said platformers at the plant are vital components in producing high-octane fuel components from low-octane naphtha.  He added that supply of power over the last 12 months has been irregular and has affected production equipment. “The dedicated power line from Kenya Power and Lighting Company has also not been very efficient in supplying the company with a consistent flow of power.  Kenya Petroleum Refineries is looking at options to produce its own power in future,” he said. Earlier this week, Kenya Power urged the refinery to publicly state the cause of the shortage of petrol instead of citing electricity interruptions.

Kenya Independent Petroleum Dealers Association said the shortage of petrol and gas with erratic supply of diesel had created ground for unscrupulous traders to exploit consumers.  Independent dealers’ chairman Keith Ngaruchi, said the shortage led to consumers being overcharged by some traders adding that some retailers unable to get petrol and diesel from depots of oil marketers had opted to pay a premium to resellers to get fuel instead of closing down business.

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