Fuel prices remain unchanged, three months in a row

Business
By Macharia Kamau | Mar 14, 2025
A pump attendant fueling a car at a petrol station along Koinange Street.[Wilberforce Okwiri,Standard]

Fuel prices will remain unchanged for the next one month despite a hike in the margins for oil marketing companies and transporters. 

To cushion consumers from the higher wholesale, retail and transport costs, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) has subsidized petroleum products.

In the March- April pricing cycle, motorists will continue to pay Sh176.58 per litre of super petrol in Nairobi, Sh167.08 per litre of diesel, and Sh151.39 per litre of kerosene. 

“In the period under review, the maximum allowed pump price for super petrol, diesel, and kerosene remain unchanged,” said Epra in its monthly price capping guide yesterday.

This is even as the energy industry regulator increased the margins for oil marketing companies. The firms will now make Sh15.24 per litre of super petrol, up from Sh12.39, translating to an increase of Sh2.85. 

The margins for diesel will increase to Sh15.16 per litre from an earlier Sh12.36, an increase of Sh2.8. The OMC margins for kerosene will increase to Sh15.09 from Sh12.36 a litre, translating to an increase of Sh2.73 a litre.

Epra on Wednesday said it planned to hike the retailers in a phased approach, and while this month’s increase was of Sh2.8 per litre of petrol and diesel, it will eventually increase by over Sh7 across the three products. 

Margins for fuel transporters moving products within 40 kilometres of Nairobi saw their margins go up to 86 cents per litre for the three products from 54 cents. Epra plans to push up the transporters’ margin incrementally to Sh1.18 per litre.

To prevent a sudden hike in pump prices, Epra has subsidised fuel by as much as Sh10 per litre of kerosene. It applied a subsidy of Sh9.90 per litre of diesel and Sh6.92 per litre of super petrol.

Epra draws funds from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund to stabilise petroleum products. The kitty is funded by motorists who pay Sh5.40 per litre of petrol and diesel and 40 cents per litre of kerosene.

Share this story
Trump offers a flicker of hope for Kenya's oil project
Locally, there is a feeling that the policy shift by the Trump administration could alter the thinking among investors and unlock funding that could see investors pump money into Kenya’s oil sector.
State now turns to KAA to fund new airport after Adani fallout
Transport CS says the plan will be submitted to the cabinet for approval. The state agency is still recovering from losses after the termination of the 2017 JKIA project.
Kenya to seek a new IMF agreement
Kenya will seek a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the IMF said Monday, after the current programme winds to a close.
The dead horse theory: When it's time to dismount for your customer's sake
When businesses focus on “dead horses,” they miss out on opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve, leading to erosion in market share and their competitive edge. 
Mombasa weekly tea auction fetches Sh1.4b for farmers
Small-holder tea growers affiliated with KTDA last week received Sh1.39 billion from the sale of 5.4 million kilogrammes of tea at the Mombasa auction.  
.
RECOMMENDED NEWS