This archive report was first published on 23 April 2020.
Motorists are scratching their heads as diesel prices have surpassed those of petrol, a reversal of the usual trend. The price of diesel has increased to Sh97.56 per litre, making it at least Sh4.6 more expensive than super petrol.
According to Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director-General Pavel Oimeke, the diesel consignments used in the computation of prices this month were procured in February when the crude oil price was relatively high.
EPRA was established as the successor to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) under the 2019 Energy Act. The changes in prices this month, which saw super petrol, diesel and Kerosene reduce by Sh18, Sh4 and Sh18 respectively, were as a consequence of the average landed cost.
The price of imported super petrol decreased by 34.6 per cent from $472.59 per cubic metre in February to $309.03 in March. Diesel decreased by 9.89 per cent from $421.24 per cubic metre to $432.70 while kerosene decreased by 37.7 per cent from $421.21 to $262.44.
On Monday, a seller was paying a buyer $30 (Sh3,000) to take away a barrel of oil, a bizarre twist in the global oil market. The prices have fallen so much that some traders started paying buyers to take oil off their hands, a situation that has left refineries with no motivation to convert crude into petrol, diesel or any other fuel.
