On Tuesday, a diatribe flared up between Kenya’s energy regulator and some fuel distribution companies, which, according to the regulator, gave priority to supplying neighboring countries. According to the regulator, they have given priority to supplying neighboring countries. Kenyan fuel distribution companies reserve 65% for the country’s domestic market and the rest is sold to Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the regulator, there is no shortage of oil in the country, but this crisis is the result of the choices of some companies.
According to the BBC, speculation has it that some companies are hoarding oil in the hope that prices will rise this week, as the regulator revised prices for the following month on Thursday.
According to experts, however, the crisis of the past weeks is due to the government’s failure to pay subsidies to oil distributors. These subsidies were used to regulate the price of petrol, thus protecting consumers from the price hikes of recent months. The government said this week that more than a third of the subsidies had been paid.
Meanwhile, the first head to fall was that of the CEO of Rubis Energy Kenya, Jean-Christian Bergeron, a subsidiary of French group Rubis, one of the country’s largest oil distribution companies. Kenya expelled the CEO, who was accused of artificially altering the price of oil. Bergeron’s response was not long in coming, with the CEO saying he would go to Paris immediately to give an update on the subsidiary’s situation. He also rejected allegations that he was responsible for knowingly distorting the Kenyan market by stockpiling oil before the price spike.
