@SittingPretty - Read this....
Quote:The PIEA has warned that consumers could be staring at acute fuel shortages as a cartel of oil dealers stockpile petroleum in anticipation of a demand surge to inflate prices.
“We have been suffering intermittent stock-outs caused by weird sharing of storage capacity in the pipeline,” PIEA chairman Polycarp Igathe said, adding that the supply shortage has occurred even as dealers with small market share continue to sit on large stocks at the depot.
Mr Igathe said most of the small companies had held onto their
stocks since January when fuel prices dropped by the largest
margin in four years and appeared to be waiting for prices to
recover.
The creeping fuel shortage arises from the fact that the speculative
companies have been allocated fuel but delayed to pick up their
stock, clogging up the Mombasa port facilities and preventing the
big marketers from taking their share of the storage.
The stockpiling has hit the large marketers hard, leaving most of
their retail stations without fuel....
.........
Mr Igathe says in a circular that the speculators seem to have the
blessing of the KPC and the Energy ministry since the officials have
continued to allocate oil stock to the firms despite failure to pick it
up.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) acknowledged the existence of underhand dealings to skew the market but sought to
dissociate itself from the shadowy ring, promising to take action.
“There is a problem, that is why we are monitoring the market
closely to contain the speculation early enough,” said Edward
Kinyua, a senior manager (petroleum) at the ERC.
Mr Kinyua said that the energy regulator had received reports of
several firms speculating for higher returns, especially in the
neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda markets.
“They (speculators) are probably anticipating a steep rise in fuel
prices, especially in the transit market,” he said.
Mr. Igathe might be biased but are ERC biased to the level of implicating themselves?
Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good returns.