Page 17 - DMEA Week 35

DMEA FUELS DMEA

Kenya avoids fuel shortages

through emergency imports

KENYA KENYA’S Energy and Petroleum Regulatory fuel from large companies at retail price, since
Authority (EPRA) has said that recent price they could not obtain it from wholesalers, she
Kenya has used increases and emergency procurement cam- added.
emergency procurement paigns are helping the country to avoid petro- EPRA responded by taking steps to make
and price increases leum product shortages. more gasoline and diesel available across
to get through the Mueni Mutung’a, the acting director-gen- the country, she said. “In order to bridge the
difficulties. eral of the agency, told the Nation earlier this gap, emergency tenders were called [earlier
week that supply conditions had not been in August] through the open tender system,
favourable at the beginning of August. This is thereby alleviating supply constraints,” she was
largely a result of the fact that demand for gas- quoted as saying by the Nation.
oline and diesel has grown much more quickly These extra volumes should help cover any
than expected since the end of June, when cur- gaps that may occur as traders ramp up imports,
fews and restrictions on movement began to be she said.
lifted, she said. Mutung’a also noted that market conditions
In April, she explained, Kenyan fuel trad- had changed as a result of the government’s deci-
ers reacted to the demand destruction resulting sion to raise motor fuel prices. The rate hike took
from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic effect on August 14, causing gasoline and diesel
by scaling back their petroleum product import prices to climb by 20% and 17% respectively.
schedules for May and June. As a result, she said, Kenya has seen motor fuel consumption lev-
when demand began rising again in July, some els rise significantly since the end of June. EPRA
traders – especially independent firms serving data show that traders in the East African state
remote and isolated parts of the country – were sold 174mn litres of gasoline and 217mn litres of
not able to access enough gasoline and diesel to diesel in August, up from 144mn litres of gaso-
satisfy customers. Some had no choice but to buy line and 187mn litres of diesel in July. ™

Week 35 03•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17