Nairobi — Kenyan households can now breathe a sigh of relief as prices of cooking gas drop by over Sh100.
A spot-check by Capital Business showed that a six-kilogram cylinder price of Rubis Energy Kenya's K-Gas has dropped from Sh1,350 in August 2022, to Sh1,200 currently.
Gas prices have been on an upward trajectory since 2020, on an increased demand as well as disruptions on the global supply chain caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The removal of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products from the list of zero-rated products under the Finance Act 2020, also pushed the prices up.
In Kenya, the LPG market is controlled by big brands such as Rubis Energy (K-Gas), Shell, Africa Gas and Oil's (AGOL's) Proto gas.
Unlike diesel, kerosene and petrol, cooking gas are not controlled. The Government has been cautious on controlling the commodity fearing it will deter investments.
In 2016, the Treasury removed the 16 per cent value added tax (VAT) to increase clean energy uptake in the country.
Removal of VAT helped push LPG uptake to 326,000 tonnes in 2021 from 151,000 tonnes in 2016.
To shield consumers from high prices, the National Assembly slashed by a half VAT on cooking gas from 16 to 8 per cent starting 1 July 2022.
However, this had little impact as prices remained unchanged in subsequent months.
