'There is nothing we can do': Energy CS Chirchir says fuel prices to go even higher

Kenyans are set to witness even higher fuel prices in the coming months due to global effects presently affecting the sector that are out of the government’s control, Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has announced.

CS Chirchir, speaking on Friday when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy, stated that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has cut down its global oil production by about 3.6 million barrels daily, thereby affecting the availability and pricing of the commodity.

He also cited the protracted Russia – Ukraine war as another factor likely to lead to a spike in fuel costs.

“We’re dealing with several governments as suppliers of these products. Yesterday, we launched the EV Mobility Regulations, and we made a very comprehensive presentation on the cost of fuel today and going forward, and we’re likely to even be going to harder times because these are Platt prices from OPEC, and there’s nothing much we can do about them. There’s been some 3.6 million barrels cut on a daily basis...that’s about 3.6%-4% (of global fuel consumption)...it’s just unfortunate that we don’t have our own product as a country,” he stated.

The CS went ahead to add that the decision by the Kenya Kwanza administration to remove the fuel subsidies put in place by the previous government is also another factor that will see the prices keep skyrocketing.

This decision, CS Chirchir intimated, was arrived at after the government reportedly made an irreversible pact with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The price of kerosene between June and today has gone up by over USD250 per barrel, from a low of 600 to a high of 900. What we’ve previously done when we ran the subsidy program is we took this away from Kenyans and they did not see the increase, and we paid on the back of the Treasury balance sheet,” he noted.

“We have the stabilization fund which raises about Ksh.5.40 for each diesel and PMS, and which only collects about Ksh.2.5 billion. The increase this time on the basis of the landed international cost prices, was up by about Ksh.8.7 billion. I wish it was still possible to subsidise, but we had some covenants with IMF. But suddenly the pain is heavy, it is not going to be easy.”

He added: “Luckily, because of our G2G, in the last two weeks when we noticed the trend was going off, we went back to the international rail companies and negotiated to bring down the freight and premium.”

CS Chirchir’s remarks followed similar sentiments by his Investments, Trade and Industry counterpart Moses Kuria who asked the public to tighten their belts and be ready for even higher prices at the pump in the coming months.

According to Kuria, fuel prices in the country will continue to rise by at least Ksh.10 every month until February next year.

"Global Crude Prices are on an upward trajectory. For planning purposes expect pump prices to go up by Ksh 10  every month till February," Kuria posted on his official X account.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) on Thursday announced that Super Petrol prices have now increased by Ksh.16.96, Diesel by Ksh.21.32, while Kerosene climbs the highest by Ksh.33.13 per litre.

The changes now mean Super Petrol in Nairobi will now be retailing at Ksh.211.64, Diesel at Ksh.200.99, and Kerosene will be Ksh.202.61 per litre.