EPRA to regulate cost of cooking gas – KBC

New prices of gas cylinders will be published next month by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority in a bid to rein in on expensive cooking gas.

EPRA says the new prices will be used by distributors and retailers in calculating the price of LPG.

Regulating the price of gas cylinders is seen as a major step by the government which is a bigger plan to control the cost of the product in the Kenyan market.

The introduction of price controls on cooking gas is debate that has been going on since the government started capping prices of super petrol, diesel and kerosene in 2010, despite strong resistance from oil marketers.

The Authority says the new pricing formula will factor in various factors that will help lower the cost of the product in the Kenyan market.

Lack of reliable data and other information on LPG price monitoring has hampered the implementation of price controls in the past.

EPRA chief Pavel Oimeke says the country will have to wait until a common liquefied petroleum gas pool and an open tendering system for LPG is implemented.

Oimeke has also said the new regulations on the sale and transport of LPG cylinders take effect end of December this year.

The new regulations ban the sale and transport of LPG without a valid license from EPRA and written consent from the distributors of the product.

Consequently, the current mandatory cylinder pool exchange made up of 50 marketers will be disbanded and.

It will be replaced by a new system made of oil marketers who will have to agree on new marketing and pricing plans.