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Fuel prices jump by biggest margin in decade

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Motorists will from tomorrow start paying higher for fuel after prices rose by the widest margin in over a decade. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Motorists will from tomorrow start paying higher for fuel after prices rose by the widest margin in over a decade.

In the latest pricing, a litre of petrol will cost Sh100.48 in the capital, an increase from the current Sh89.10 while diesel will be sold at Sh91.87, up from the Sh74.57 per litre last month.

Kerosene will retail Sh2.98 higher from the Sh62.46 per litre in the changes announced by the energy regulator. The product was not imported in the May/June cycle.

The double digit increase in diesel prices driven by recovery on the international crude oil market now reverses three months of steep drop in prices that started in March, touching last month’s record low since May 2016.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority said the changes in the pump prices came as a result of increased landed costs for all the three products which jumped 12.64 percent for petrol and 32.16 percent for diesel. There was no kerosene import as demand remained depressed.

“The changes in this month’s prices are as a result of the average landed cost of super petrol increasing from $248.21 per cubic metre in Mayu 2020 to $279.58 per cubic metre in June 2020, and Diesel increasing from $228.62 per cubic metre to $302.15 per cubic metre to $126.39 per cubic metre,” EPRA Director General Pavel Oimeke wrote.

The changes in motor fuel now ends the cheap fuel party for motorists who have been enjoying record low prices since March when the two products started retailing at below Sh100 per litre.

The Sh11.38 increase on every litre of petrol and Sh17.3 for diesel represent the biggest jump in price since January 2007, higher than the Sh13 per litre rise for diesel and Sh 8.78 rise in petrol prices witnessed in April 2011 when the shilling was highly depressed due to heavy importation.