Kenya cracks down on fuel companies, confirms departure of Rubis' CEO

Rubis SCA

14/04/2022 16:30

By Ayenat Mersie
    NAIROBI, April 14 (Reuters) - Kenya's energy minister on
Thursday threatened to reduce import quotas for oil companies
that fail to sell their full allocation as the country grapples
with a biting fuel shortage.
    The fuel crisis in Kenya is in its second week and has seen
traffic in parts of the capital Nairobi come to a standstill as
desperate motorists joined snaking queues outside petrol
stations, blocking major roads. 
    Government officials blame the shortage on oil marketing
companies, accusing them of hoarding supplies ahead of a price
hike, which comes into effect on Friday. Oil companies have
pointed to subsidy arrears owed to them by the state.
    Local media reported that the government had deported the
CEO of fuel storage and distribution company Rubis Energy Kenya
over the fuel crisis. Energy minister Monica Juma confirmed that
the CEO, Jean-Christian Bergeron, had left the country on
Wednesday night but declined to give further details.
    Bergeron has led the Kenyan subsidiary of France's Rubis
Energie  RUBF.PA  for three years. Local media said his work
visa had been revoked. Bergeron and the interior ministry did
not respond to requests for comment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2WB36M
    "The CEO of Rubis Energy Kenya joined the head office in
Paris to give a full update on the situation of the subsidiary,"
Rubis Energie said in a statement in French on Thursday, without
giving further details on Bergeron's return to France.
    Kenya's petroleum regulator said on Thursday it was
increasing national fuel prices by 9.90 Kenyan shillings per
litre, effective from Friday.
    Juma said she had sanctioned a process of reallocating the
petroleum import capacity and the fuel crisis should ease within
72 hours. "This situation can only be equated to deliberate
efforts to sabotage this economy, which constitutes a capital
crime," she said.
    "The oil marketing companies who sold above their normal
local quota during the crisis period will benefit from
additional capacity; while those who sold less will have their
respective capacities reduced," Juma said, without giving more
details about quota changes.
    Rubis Energy Kenya said in a statement that it has not
increased its export sales to the detriment of the Kenyan market
and was making its best efforts to fully supply the market.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASM0007W2
    Kenya introduced its fuel subsidy scheme in 2021. A jump in
global oil prices  LCOc1  has caused cash flow problems at some
retailers and hardships have been compounded by delays in
subsidy payments by the government. 
    Many Kenyans turned to social media in search of clues as to
where to find fuel; one even set up a crowd-sourced platform
"IkoWhere?" which offered live updates on stations with fuel.
 
    ($1 = 115.4000 Kenyan shillings)

 (Reporting by Ayenat Mersie
Additional writing by Hereward Holland
Editing by James Macharia Chege and Susan Fenton)
 ((ayenat.mersie@thomsonreuters.com;))