Fuel prices set for minor changes

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has announced marginal prices changes to the cost of fuel for the next one month.

From Saturday super petrol will cost 17 cents higher while diesel will be less by 34 cents while kerosene will be cheaper by 39 cents.

Motorists in Nairobi will pay Sh91.56 cents for a liter of petrol while diesel will retail at Sh82.12 a liter.

The change is attributed to the variance in the cost of the landed cost of fuel during the month.

The import cost of petrol was up 0.81 percent while diesel was down 1.31 percent.

The review comes a time policy makers have been calling for changes to the pricing formula to eliminate the price transmission lag in a bid to benefit consumers.

Currently there’s a price lag of 45 days from the time oil marketers buy refined products to the time it lands in Kenya.

The Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA) last month challenged the ERC to sync its operations to changes in the global crude oil market.

PIEA Chairman Powel Maimba said the time lag of 40 days from the time an oil marketer makes an order to the time the petroleum products are delivered usually results in inaccurate pricing of fuel.

“We are not in close sync with the current global price changes. As soon as we start matching the period and offloading of the fuel we should be able to reflect the change on a regular basis,” Mr Maimba said.