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
"We weren't told": Why most Kenyans don't join budget talks
A majority of Kenyans, six in 10, have never participated in the budget making process in their respective counties or at the national level.
State mulls over Council to unify fractured business lobbies
The government is set to establish a new statutory body that will centralise private sector advocacy, potentially repositioning major lobbies in the country as members of a single government.
How new Bixa rules aim to boost Kenya's export earnings
Dr Linyiru said the crop’s annual export value in 2022 was Sh0.67 billion compared to Sh0.957 billion earned in 2024.
Experts: AI, entrepreneurship skills key to engineering's future
Aspiring engineers have been encouraged to embrace innovation, entrepreneurship, and AI as key drivers of future infrastructure development and economic transformation.
Financial leaders push for inclusive capital markets
African financial leaders have urged regulators to make it easier for businesses to access capital, warning that strict listing rules are slowing economic growth.
.
RECOMMENDED NEWS