Economy

Gas uptake rises 26pc on tighter safety rules

oimeke

EPRA Director General Pavel Oimeke. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Kenyans consumed more cooking gas in the first nine months of 2019 compared to a similar period last year, ushering renewed hopes of wider usage of clean energy in households.

Government data show that households consumed 26 percent more LPG in the period to September 2019 compared to that of 2018.

The 249.5 tonnes of LPG consumed in the nine months is 6.7 tonnes more than last year’s despite the average price having risen by Sh9 to Sh2,176.80 in 2019 for a 13Kg cylinder of cooking gas.

The increased consumption is attributed to rising consumer confidence in the products after regulatory efforts to tame illicit trade in LPG and investment in the sector. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) says the consumption is bound to increase as the end year festivities kick in and more players join the industry under new regulations.

“More LPG consumption happens in the last half of the year due to the Christmas festivities. Any decline now will self-correct as the festive season for 2019 approaches,” EPRA Director General Pavel Oimeke said.

Gas market players had expressed concerns over the disorder in the industry that saw unscrupulous traders hijack competitors’ cylinders and refill them, risking lives of users.

There were also concerns over poor quality cooking gas seeping in through the Tanzania border, a move that hurt investor and partly consumer confidence in LPG.

Petroleum Institute for East Africa had claimed that almost 90 percent of cylinders that were circulating in the market were outside the control of Oil Marketing Companies under the old cylinder pool, underlining the confusion that existed.