Pain at the pump as super, diesel prices go up, kerosene drops Sh2


Retail prices for diesel and petrol will go up starting this morning by  one shilling, while retail price for kerosene will go down.

Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL)

The Energy Regulatory Commission increased the prices of fuel by about a shilling for both diesel and petrol mostly due to a slight weakening of the local currency against other major currencies. Kerosene, used by many rural households and urban low-income households for lighting and cooking, will drop by Sh2. Thus petrol will retail at Sh111.55, up from Sh110.59, diesel at Sh105.80 from Sh104.73 retailed in Nairobi. Kerosene will sell at Sh83.07, down from Sh85.07.

The increases were despite a decline in the price of crude oil that was going at $109.5 per barrel in January, down from $113 a barrel recorded in December. The cost of petroleum products imported in a refined state also generally went down, save for diesel that went up by 1.6 per cent. The shilling traded at an average of Sh86.18 to the dollar in January, a weaker position compared to Sh86.16 in December.


“The average landed cost of kerosene decreased 2.97 per cent in January compared to December… super petrol decreased by 0.69 per cent, while diesel increased by 1.69 per cent,” said ERC in its monthly price capping statement yesterday.

Though marginal, the rise in prices of diesel and petrol add another spanner to an already gloomy economic outlook, with many analysts expecting the cost of living to go up in the coming months.

“We retain our expectations on inflation for the coming months. Marginal rise in food prices are expected to adversely affect inflation, hence causing food inflation… we expect year-on-year inflation rates to rise in the coming months to 7.71 per cent and 7.89 per cent for February and March respectively,” said AIB Capital in an analysis last week.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.