Motorists have been handed a reprieve after the energy tribunal failed to rule in favour of oil marketers to pass on a Sh5 billion fee to consumers through higher pump prices.
The petroleum dealers are seeking compensation for a Sh5 billion loss they claim to have suffered before the closure of the Mombasa petroleum refinery four years ago.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) declined the demand, prompting marketers Libya Oil, Vivo and Gapco to appeal the decision at the Energy Tribunal.
“Tribunal directs that the matter be referred back to the Energy Regulatory Commission,” ruled the tribunal through Friday’s Kenya Gazette.
The ERC said its position of not allowing consumers to bear the burden remains, dealing a blow to the marketers.The dealers claim that they incurred heavy losses from the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited’s (KPRL), whose plant gave the marketers more of less valuable heavier oils and less quantities of the more valuable white products — petrol, diesel and kerosene.
Marketers wanted to load Sh1 on every litre of petrol and diesel at the pump to recover the billions.
A petrol station. Photo courtesy