Kenya seeks over 835,000 tonnes of fuel for November to January

NAIROBI, KENYA: Oil importers are seeking 835,560 tonnes of oil products for delivery for November to January, about 40 per cent more than volumes purchased in September to October, according to industry sources.

The importers are seeking 255,641 tonnes of gasoline, 206,755 tonnes of 500 ppm sulphur gasoil and 373,164 tonnes of jet fuel for delivery into Mombasa, they said. Oil marketers are tendering for increased imports of oil products ahead of the busy festive season.

The Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA),the industry’s lobby group, Wednesday explained that the move is meant to guarantee supply during the Christmas season.

CHRISTMAS SEASON

“The period under consideration is 1.5 months while we usually plan for one month supply. Further this is supply for Christmas season which is critical due to increased demand and thus security of supply is being protected,” Polycarp Igathe, Chairman, PIEA told The Standard.

It was not immediately clear why Kenya was seeking more oil products, while the country is preparing for a shift to cleaner fuels from January next year where they have to lower sulphur content for both gasoline and gasoil. Kenya’s economy is highly dependent on gasoil for transport, power production and farming, while many homes use kerosene for lighting and cooking.

Petroleum fuels constitute the main source of commercial energy in Kenya. Kenya is a net importer of petroleum products and has an 800 km cross country oil pipeline from Mombasa to Nairobi and Western Kenya with terminals in Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu, run by the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

The sector has a number of key companies like Shell, Total, Kenol/Kobil, Oil Libya and Government-owned National Oil Corporation of Kenya.