Truckers, farmers top gainers in diesel drop

Petroleum product consumers will from Thursaday experience mixed fortunes at the pump with the cost of a litre of petrol climbing slightly as that of diesel drops marginally in the latest prices announced by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).

Petrol, which is largely used by private motorists, will retail Sh0.72 more for each litre while diesel used mainly by trucks, machines and agricultural equipment, has dropped by Sh2.18 per litre in the latest monthly revisions.

In Nairobi, a litre of petrol will now cost Sh107.27, after a second increase in a month that now pushes its cumulative climb since September 14 to Sh3.32 per litre.

The product, which was retailing at Sh105.43 per litre after the September revisions, was adjusted to Sh1.6.55 in the tax driven mid-cycle revision on October 1.

Diesel, which was the only product whose pump prices went down to retail at Sh92.91, will now carry a cumulative relief of Sh1.7 per litre in the September-October pricing cycle after it was increased by Sh0.58 per litre in the October 1 adjustments.

Kerosene remains unchanged at Sh83.73 in the latest revisions after EPRA said the product was not imported.

“The changes in this month’s prices are as a consequence of the average landed cost of imported super petrol increasing 1.12 percent from $327.69 per cubic metre in August 2020 to $331.37 per cubic metre in September 2020; Diesel decreasing by 5.42 percent from $329.88 per cubic metre to $311.99 per cubic metre,” EPRA wrote in a statement accompanying the prices yesterday.

The October 1 mid-cycle revisions were made after the Kenya Revenue Authority used the average inflation to revise excise duty rates for various goods among them fuel where consumers pay Sh21 per litre of petrol and Sh10.84 for each litre of diesel and kerosene purchased.