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The cost of fuel is expected to decline further in the first quarter of next year as a result of falling global oil prices, says the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The cost of fuel is expected to decline further in the first quarter of next year as a result of falling global oil prices, says the Energy Regulatory Commission.

This is good news for consumers who bear the burden of high fuel prices through increased cost of transport and manufactured goods.

“There should be a positive correlation between the reduction in the prices of crude and that at the pump. At the moment, we are benchmarking our prices against that of refined products in the global market,” ERC Director General Joseph Ng’ang’a told the Nation in an interview.

Business magazine Bloomberg says crude oil prices have fallen to a four-year low due to increased output from the United States and a decline in global demand.

Data from Bloomberg indicates that the value of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which is used to benchmark global prices, dropped to $68.56 per barrel in Monday’s trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

FAILURE TO CUT PRODUCTION

The supply glut has been accelerated by failure of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which controls 40 per cent of the global oil market, to reduce its daily production in spite of calls by some of its members heavily dependent on oil revenues.

The International Energy Agency predicts that the current decline in global oil prices will slide into 2015 due to increased production from the US. Other reports predict that the drop in crude prices could go to as low as $40 per barrel.

Since the closure of the Kenya Petroleum Refineries in September last year, the country has been dependent on refined oil imports. In addition to global oil prices, the local cost of fuel is influenced by taxes, levies and fluctuations of the local currency against the dollar.

In the last price review, ERC cut the prices of fuel by up to Sh6 a litre, citing a drop in the global price of Murban crude and freight charges during the period that the cargo was procured.

The review saw the prices of diesel, kerosene and super petrol reduce for the third consecutive month.