,National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) is set to announce plans to cut its cooking gas
package prices by over 60% (through a Government subsidy plan) to drive use of cleaner energy
in poor households and using innovative access methods such as community kitchens. The state
corporation aims to introduce 6.5m new cooking gas cylinders into Kenyan households over the
next three years at a cost of KES 5.6bn annually (June 2017- 1.3m additional, June 2018- {+2.2m,
June 2019 - +3.0m). A paltry 9% of Kenyan households use LPG, at an annual consumption of
70MT p.a. NOCK estimates latent/unrealized demand at 200MT p.a. Low cooking gas uptake in
Kenya is attributable to a mix of factors, among them inadequate infrastructure, high cost of
cooking and lighting equipment and a weak distribution network.
NOCK will reduce prices for 3kg and 6kg cooking gas packages by 64% and 61% respectively. The
project starts in July 2016 and will be financed through internally generated revenues, debt and
capital injection from partners. Distribution of the cylinders will be done mostly through women
and youth groups, an exercise expected to create employment opportunities for 1,500 to 2,000
women and youth groups. Kenya ranks among the lowest usage in Africa with a per capita
consumption of 2kg, below the continent’s average of 3kg. Ghana per capita consumption is at
5kg, South Africa 6kg, Senegal 10kg and Ivory Coast 9kg. 97% of Kenyan households use
traditional sources of cooking energy such as wood and charcoal. Kenya’s primary energy
consumption mix is at 68% for biomass, 22% for petroleum and 9% for electricity. NOCK is a
fully integrated State Corporation involved in all aspects of the petroleum supply chain covering
the upstream oil and gas exploration, midstream petroleum infrastructure development and
downstream marketing of petroleum products. ,
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