The State has fired back at Rubi Energy and Oil Marketers Association of Kenya (OMAK) over the importation of 30,000 tonnes of petrol into the country over the festive season.
Principal Secretary for Petroleum Andrew Kamau has accused Rubis Energy and oil marketers’ lobby of seeking to create an artificial shortage.
He said their allegations were made to trigger a security scare as motorists scampered for the limited supply of super, enough to last the anticipated outage.
“We are therefore surprised that even after attending the Vessel Scheduling Meeting (VSM) you chose to go public alleging that this was a private cargo/illegal cargo. This kind of insincerity is not only unfair but unacceptable. You alluded that the country was to face a stock out, which is dangerous and would cause panic buying and cause an artificial shortage,” Kamau said.
OMAK had last month written to the Petroleum Ministry and the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) protesting the importation and offloading of 30,000MT of gasoline.
The lobby questioned how Gulf Energy Limited imported 30,000MT of gasoline for an “elite” group of oil marketers without knowledge of the all-other oil marketing companies (OMCs).
OMAK said the timing for both arrival and discharge of the cargo by Gulf Energy was meant never to be discovered due to the festivities and now wants the ministry to investigate the matter.
“You are aware that the Petroleum Act of 2019 outlaws all private imports for refined petroleum products into the country. As the custodian of the Open Tender System (OTS) document, we believe that the ministry should continue protecting the authority of the document. Allowing such imports undermines the document and can easily lead to acrimony in the Oil industry,” read part of the letter.
Records show that the vessel, M/T Jag Prerana, was allowed to offload the fuel, worth billions of shillings, by officials from the Ministry of Petroleum following a request from oil marketer Gulf Energy despite the fact that it was not among the firms prequalified to bring in the commodity.
Records show that the vessel, M/T Jag Prerana, was allowed to offload the fuel, worth billions of shillings, by officials from the Ministry of Petroleum following a request from oil marketer Gulf Energy despite the fact that it was not among the firms prequalified to bring in the commodity.
Joseph Wafula, Chief Economist at the Ministry of Petroleum directed clearance of the consignment upon payment of the requisite levies and taxes on December 30, 2021.
Charles Nyakundi, Supply and Trading Manager at Gulf Energy had written to the ministry and the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) seeking clearance for the cargo to be offloaded.
The ministry says players had agreed on an emergency stock to avoid supply hitches due to increased demand over the Christmas and New Year festivities.