Energy Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma says the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has opened investigations into non-compliant Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and retail station operators that were reported to have failed to maintain minimum operational stocks or to hoard petroleum in the past two weeks.
On Tuesday, Juma that the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) had identified four retail stations for selling the petroleum products above the recommended price in the course of their instigations.
“On 17th April 2022, EPRA acting on intelligence reports found 4 retail stations offering petroleum for sale above the recommended price. The stations were located at Migori, Kehancha, Awendo and Isebania respectively,”
The Energy CS warned that stern action will be taken against the operators found culpable.She urged consumers to report any price non-complaint retail stations to EPRA for action. Juma announced that fuel supply had been restored in all parts of the country following weeks of fuel shortages in the country widely blamed on hoarding by unscrupulous OMCs
The situation led to heavy traffic and long queues in petrol stations in parts of the country as motorists scrambled for the product. Five days ago, the government assured Kenyans that it had rolled out plans to restore normalcy in petroleum supply within 72 hours including providing security to facilitate movement of oil tankers.
“By yesterday 18th April 2022, the Ministry can confirm that majority of petroleum retail stations across the country were carrying out business as normal. The long queues witnessed in the past 2 weeks were gone, and normalcy in petroleum supplies was restored,”
The Energy CS stated that during this period a total of 10,614,000 litres of super petrol and 13,329,000 litres of diesel were loaded and distributed across the country. Juma lauded government agencies and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in ensuring that petroleum products loadings and deliveries continued throughout the Easter Weekend.
She stated that as of April 18, the total petroleum stock held by Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC) included 52,900,000 litres of Super Petrol and 82,177,000 Litres of Diesel.