Kenyans have a reason to smile after the price of super petrol in this month's review remained unchanged at Sh217.36 per litre in Nairobi while diesel and kerosene dropped by Sh2.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) Director General Daniel Kiptoo noted that consumers will not bear the burden despite the average landed cost of imported super petrol having increased by 2.81 per cent per cubic metre in October, diesel by 3.28 per cent and kerosene by 6.31 per cent.

"In order to cushion consumers from the spike in pump prices as a consequence of the landed costs, the government has opted to stabilise pump prices for the November-December 2023 pricing cycle. The National Treasury has identified resources within the current resource envelope to compensate oil marketing companies," he added in a statement released Tuesday evening.   

This means a litre of diesel in Nairobi will now retail at Sh203.47 effective midnight, Tuesday, November 14 to December 14, 2023.

A litre of kerosene will on the other hand retail at Sh203.06 over the same period.

In Mombasa, the three fuel prices will retail at Sh214.30 for super petrol, Sh20.41 for diesel and Sh199.99 for kerosene.

Without the stablisation, the actual fuel prices for the November-December cycle would have been Sh229.37 for a litre of super petrol, Sh223.29 for a litre of diesel and Sh206.70 for a litre of kerosene.

An analysis of international petroleum prices provided by S&P Global Platts indicates that the average October fuel price was much lower than in September.

It shows that a metric tonne of super petrol dropped from US$961.35 in September to SU$804.16 in October.

Diesel went from US$898.26 per metric tonne in September to US$839.26 in October while kerosene dropped from US$952.62 to US$876.75 over the period under review.

"These are the cargoes that had discharged at the Port of Mombasa between the 10th day of October 2023 and the 9th day of November in line with the provision of the Petroleum (Pricing) Regulations, 2022," Kiptoo said.

As a result of government stabilising the prices, the DG said Oil marketers will be compensated from the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) at the rate of Sh12.01 for every litre of super petrol sold, Sh19.82 for every litre of diesel and Sh3.64 for every litre of kerosene.

"Epra wishes to assure the public of its continued commitment to the observance of fair competition and the protection of the interests of both consumers and investors in the energy and petroleum sectors," he said.

This is the first time in three months that fuel prices have not gone up since the historic spike in September that saw fuel prices cross the Sh200 mark for the first time ever.

On Sunday, Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management CS Moses Kuria hinted that the prices could drop in a cryptic message that elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans as much as it lifted their hopes.

"Good news soon. Hang in there Dear Kenyans," he said via his X platform.

The CS had in mid September asked Kenyans to brace for worse times ahead saying given the global fuel price trends, a litre of fuel would easily hit the Sh260 mark by February 2024.

"Global Crude Prices are on an upward trajectory. For planning purposes expect pump prices to go up by Sh10 every month till February," he said in a statement on September 15.

The then Trade CS spoke a day after fuel prices crossed the Sh200 mark and elicited public uproar from Kenyans.

Epra had in that month's review increased super petrol, diesel and kerosene prices by 8.7, 11.9 and 19.6 per cent respectively to stand at Sh211.64, Sh200.99, and Sh202.61.