Oil firms to blame for fuel shortage, says KPC

Kenyans face higher shortage-induced fuel prices as oil firms fail to deliver the commodity to petrol stations.

Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) on Monday pushed the energy feud a notch higher, saying local oil marketing firms were letting their petrol stations run dry yet there was enough fuel in various depots.

KPC Operations Manager Peter Mecha said only Shell Kenya had lifted fuel from its depots in Nairobi by Sunday.

Vehicles queue at a petrol station. KPC says oil companies should explain why their pump stations are running dry. Photo: Jonah Onyango/Standard
"Transactions are a bit quiet but we have enough stocks as ordered by oil companies. We will give them their requirements. KPC wants to assure Kenyans that we have enough stock," said Mr Mecha.

"The oil companies should explain why their pump stations are running dry and why there is an artificial shortage," he said on telephone.

Pumping rate

The national oil transporter said earlier in a public notice that it continues to pump white petroleum products at the rate of 540,000 litres an hour as per the oil marketers’ orders.

The challenge comes at a time when the marketers, through their umbrella body the Petroleum Institute of East Africa, have blamed Kenya Petroleum Refineries, KPC, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), importers and Kenya Power and Lighting Corporation for the ‘shortage’.

Petroleum Institute of East Africa General Manager George Wachira said at the weekend that the inability by the refinery to convert crude oil into sufficient quantities, especially of premium gasoline, was frustrating.

"With a refinery in an urgent need of an upgrade, this will continue to be an expensive problem to the economy and the consumer," said Mr Wachira in an article published in a local weekly. "Power fluctuations and outages have also consistently interfered with the ability of the refinery to meet its production targets," he added.

Wachira apportions a share of blame to KPC over its upgrading programme.

"KPC commissioned a new set of pumps at a time when the country was low in stocks. Commissioning a new pumping system always has teething problems," he explained.

He said that at a supply meeting in late November, marketers expected the system to stabilise within one month.

"However, KPC may have given people false hope with the timing of the commissioning ceremony which has not been made smoother by the quality of power supply," Wachira said.