The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) yesterday increased pump prices by Sh9 per litre despite the utilisation of the fuel price stabilization mechanism, commonly known as the fuel subsidy.
The increase in fuel price has pushed the cost of super and diesel to Sh159.12 and Sh140, respectively in Nairobi, the highest in Kenya’s history.
Kerosene prices also went up by a similar margin and will now retail at Sh127 in Nairobi.
“The applicable pump prices for super petrol, diesel and kerosene have been increased by Sh9 per litre from the previous cycle,” Epra said in a notice yesterday.
The further increase in fuel prices is attributable to an increase in the landed cost of fuel imports in the month of May.
The average landed cost of petrol for instance rose by 5.96 per cent from May while the landed cost of diesel and kerosene was up by 10.9 per cent with only kerosene spared having seen a drop of 0.34 per cent landed costs.
The subsidy is set to cover Sh25.56 for super petrol consumers, Sh48.19 for diesel and Sh42.43 for kerosene.
Without the utilisation of the cover, petrol would cost Sh184.68 per litre while diesel and kerosene prices would stand at Sh188.19 and Sh170.37 per litre.
Besides the higher landed cost, the prices of fuel products have been impacted by a near one per cent slip in the mean monthly Kenya Shilling to US dollar exchange rate with the local unit averaging Sh116.89 in May.