Diesel Price Drops as EPRA Slashes Prices to 13-Year Low

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in the monthly report reduced fuel prices to a 13-year low.

This comes as a huge boost to motorists for the next one month after fuel pump prices were drastically reduced.

Diesel users will be the biggest beneficiaries after the Authority slashed the commodity’s price by Sh19.19 per liter to retail at Sh78.37, while a liter of petrol has been slashed by Ksh9.54 and will retail at Ksh83.33 cents in Nairobi.

Kerosene, however, was only lowed by Ksh2. 49 per litre as according to the authority there was no cargo of the product discharged at the port of Mombasa from 10 April to 9th May.

“Taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products, the changes in the maximum allowed petroleum pump prices in Nairobi are as follows,” EPRA stated in a statement seen by Inversk.

“Super Petrol and Diesel decrease by KShs 9.54 per litre and KShs 19.19 per litre respectively while Kerosene increases by KShs 2.49 per litre,” the statement read.

The reduction of fuel prices is in response to the fall in the global crude oil prices due to oversupply.

EPRA attributed the lowering of fuel pump prices to the decrease in global crude prices for super petrol that has fallen by 38.94 percent from US$309.03 per cubic meter in March to US$ 188.07 in April.

In a similar period, diesel decreased by 44.04 percent from US$ 432.70 US per cubic meter to US$242.13 per cubic meter.

The Regulator said that the computation of new prices also took into consideration changes effected by the value-added tax law amendment act of 2020 that lowed VAT from 16 to 14 percent.

Further, the pump price reductions would have been even by a wider margin were it not for the shilling that weakened 2.67 percent against the dollar hitting 106.83 to the greenback over the same period.

Fuel will be cheapest in Mombasa where a litre of super petrol will retail at Ksh80.85, diesel at Ksh75.88 while kerosene is Ksh77.29.

Super petrol will now cost Kshs.84.20 in Eldoret while diesel will sell at Kshs.79.38 and Kerosene Kshs.80.78.

In Kisumu, super petrol will retail at Kshs. 89.19, diesel at Kshs.79.37 and Kerosene will sell at Kshs.80.77.

It will be expensive in Mandera where a liter of super petrol goes for Ksh96.36, diesel costs Ksh91.41 and Kerosene is at 92.81

Globally, oil markets have been in turmoil as the coronavirus strangles demand due to business closures and travel restrictions, with US crude at one point falling into negative territory for the first time.