Kenya: Government to Introduce Legislation For Petrol Retail
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Saturday, 18 October 2008 |
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The new law would become a secondary legislation to the Energy Act 2006
and would empower the Minister to impose price controls in the local
petroleum industry.
Director General Kaburu Mwirichia could not give a timeframe on when
the new law would be in place. Mwirichia said the ERC has to work
consciously and carefully when developing a model for imposing price
controls to avoid disrupting fuel supply. Four oil marketers, mostly
private multi-nationals, dominate the market. The top four, Kenya
Shell, Kenol Kobil, Total Kenya and Chevron, control over 75 per cent
of the market.
While some of the strategic goals of ERC is geared to protecting the
interests of consumers and implementing Government policies — fair
pricing in the market, price controls can only be imposed swiftly if
State-owned National Oil Corporation of Kenya (Nock) enjoyed a
nationwide reach.
Currently, Nock has 67 service stations and commands a mere five per cent market share.
Price controls in the country were abolished in 1994 when the oil industry was liberalised.
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