Kenyans In For a Tough Christmas As Diesel and Paraffin Prices Go Up

“As one of it’s many functions, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has announced a slight drop in the price of unleaded super petrol, prices of diesel and keeosene, however, rise in the latest monthly review,” said the commission in a statement posted on its website.

In the new pump prices announced by ERC, the prices of one liter of petrol in Nairobi will retail at a maximum of 94.20 shillings having dropped by 0.74 shillings.

Diesel users are not lucky this time as a liter of the product has increased by 5.05 shillings to retail at a maximum of 87.22 shillings per liter in Nairobi.

Kerosene on the other hand has increased by 1.40 shillings to retail at a maximum of 63.56 shillings in Nairobi.

“The change in the petroleum pump prices was driven by changes in the average landed cost of imported petroleum products at the port of Mombasa,” said the commission in a statement.

According to the commission, the average landed cost of super petrol decreased by 2.76 percent from 518.23 US dollars per ton in October to 503.93 US dollars per ton in November.

The average landed cost of diesel on the other hand increased by 9.50 percent from 435.40 US dollars per ton to 478.11 US dollars per ton while the average landed cost of kerosene increased by 4.41 percent from 479.30 US dollars per ton to 500.45 US dollars per ton.

The increase in diesel prices is set to affect the prices of most commodities given that the manufacturing sector mostly rely on diesel to carry out their operations.

Kenyans planning to travel to their rural areas to celebrate Christmas might have to dig deeper into their pockets as the transport sector is set to hike the fare as a result of the increased diesel prices.

More than 50 percent of Kenyans rely on paraffin for both cooking and lighting and the increased prices are going to be felt across.