Image: COURTESY
The government has cut the price per litre of petrol by Sh7.21 despite higher landing costs.
It has also slashed prices per litre of diesel by Sh5.09 and that of kerosene by Sh4.49.
In the monthly review for a period starting at midnight issued by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), landed cost for super petrol increased by 5.6 per cent to $703 compared to last month.
That of diesel dropped by 0.76 per cent to $722.49 while that of kerosene increased by 1.65 per cent to $730.50.
As a result, a litre of petrol will now retail at Sh199.15 in Nairobi, diesel at Sh190.38 and kerosene at Sh188.74.
In Mombasa, a litre of super petrol will retail for Sh195.97 starting midnight while that of diesel and kerosene will go for Sh187.21 and Sh185.58 respectively.
President William Ruto had earlier in the day promised Kenyans more relief at the pump during his ongoing tour of the South Rift region.
Kenya is cutting pump prices as the time global rates are surging after oil-producing countries agreed to extend the daily supply cut by Sh2.2 million barrels til June.
While Saudi Arabia has agreed to stretch out its voluntary crude production cut of 1 million barrels per day until the end of the second quarter, Russia has committed to trimming its production and export supplies by a combined 471,000 barrels per day until the end of June.
OPEC key producers Iraq and UAE will also prolong their voluntary production cuts of 220,000 barrels per day and 163,000 barrels per day.
This also comes against a backdrop of a rise in global prices which have edged up from $75 to $85 per barrel interval since the start of the year due to persistent Houthi maritime attacks in the crucial Red Sea route, spill-over risks of ongoing Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Although the official statement did not give reasons for the sizable drop, an insider at EPRA linked it to the fair pricing in the current government-to-government oil plan by Gulf firms.
He also attributed the change to the shilling which has strengthened by almost 30 units against the US dollar since early last month.
"Kenya is reaping the double fruits of favourable pricing in the G to G oil plan and appreciating shilling. This is expected to stir economic activities to lower the overall cost of living,'' a source at EPRA not authorised to speak to media told the Star in confidence.
On Wednesday, the shilling continued to gain against the greenback, closing the market at Sh137.
