NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
Kenya’s energy industry regulator on Friday decreased petroleum
pump prices for diesel, super petrol and kerosene by different price margins in
the latest review for April-May due to global falls in crude oil prices.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the review have been as a result of
the average landed costs of imported super petrol declined by 4.22 percent from
588.47 U.S. dollars per tonne in February to 563.62 dollars per tonne in March.
The regulator said the average landed cost of imported diesel decreased by
2.92 percent from 520.01 dollars per tonne in February to 504.83 dollars per
tonne in March and kerosene went down by 8.27 percent from 442.27 dollars per
tonne in February to 497.44 dollars per tonne in March.
"The changes in this month’s prices have been as a consequence of the
decrease in average of the landed cost of the imported super petrol, diesel and
kerosene," ERC’s acting director-general Robert Oimeke said in a statement.
"Taking into account the weighed average cost of imported refine petroleum
products, the changes in the maximum allowed petroleum pump prices in Nairobi to
decrease by 3.06 shillings while diesel and kerosene went up by 1.82 shillings
and 3.58 shillings per litre respectively," Oimeke added.
Market analysts say the new prices will mainly benefit motorists who depend
on petrol and diesel for transport and low income earners who heavily rely on
kerosene for cooking.
Fuel prices have a significant impact on inflation in an economy which
depends heavily on diesel for transport, power generation and agriculture, while
kerosene is used in many households for lighting and cooking.
