Oil firms ignore calls to cut prices

Three major oil marketers on Friday turned down requests by the government to lower fuel prices.

KenolKobil, Shell Kenya and Total Kenya defied the plea by the Ministry of Energy at a meeting in Nairobi.

“They refused to even have us discuss the issue of pricing at the meeting, some of them even decided not to stay for this briefing,” Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike told journalists

However, Mr Nyoike noted that there was very little the ministry could do to force the marketers to lower the prices since the market was liberalised.

The meeting had been called to address logistical challenges blamed for the rising prices. There had been claims that stocks had run out at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

Mr Nyoike said the company had resolved a technical hitch that had precipitated the intermittent shortages.

Over the past weeks, some retail stations had reported lack of products especially petrol, sending fear of possible shortage among consumers.

As a result, some marketers pushed pump prices to almost Sh100. The last time fuel cost so much was in 2008 when the country faced supply constraints originating from KPC.

“There is a lot of profiteering by this large players in the market, the high prices are not in tune with the international standards. It is almost a cartel like behaviour by them,” Mr Nyoike said.

According to the ministry’s calculations that are based on the open tender systems award for import, pump prices should retail at about Sh90 for super petrol.

“They should at least reduce the charges by about Sh5 from the current prices,” pleaded the PS.