Kenya is still reeling from a contested 60,000 metric tons of petrol that were imported outside the government-to-government (G-to-G) deal last month. The consignment was one of the two cargoes brought in to avert a shortage of petrol.

A directive by Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi for recalling of the product deepened the saga, with oil marketers saying the product is already mixed with previous stocks in the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) system, making it impossible to retrieve it.

Below is a step-by-step breakdown of how Kenya imports fuel and how it ends up at the retail outlets across the country.

Where does Kenya source fuel?

Kenya imports all grades of refined fuel (diesel, petrol and dual-purpose kerosene).

Much of the fuel has traditionally been sourced from ports in the Gulf and Red Sea regions and by major oil companies in the region such as Saudi Aramco.

But India, the ports of Antwerp in Belgium and the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands have emerged as new loading zones in the wake of the Middle East war. The conflict, pitting US-Israel against Iran started in February this year and has since disrupted the movement of ships due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, where nearly a quarter of the global fuel passes.

Saudi Aramco, Emirates National Oil Company and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company are currently supplying Kenya with fuel on a credit period of 180 days. The deal, that started in March 2023 replaced the Open Tender System (OTS).

Under the G-to-G deal, the three Gulf oil majors handpicked a number of Kenya oil marketers including Gulf Energy, Oryx Energies and BE Energy to import the fuel. This is a contrast to the OTS where local oil companies competitively bid to import fuel, with the tender awarded to the firm that quoted the lowest prices.

How long does a ship take to deliver fuel at the port of Mombasa?

Ships that are loaded at ports like Jebel Ali in the Gulf region or Yanbu along the Red Sea take between 10-15 days to arrive at the port of Mombasa.

Ships from the Persian Gulf cross into the Arabian Sa via the Strait of Hormuz and continue along the East African coast to port of Mombasa. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted vessel movement along this route, forcing ships to turn to other routes.

Vessels loading at the port of Sikka in India take between 15-20 days to get to the Port of Mombasa. This is because the maritime route between the port of Sikka to Mombasa is longer than from the Persian Gulf to Mombasa.

What happens when a vessel carrying fuel arrives at the port of Mombasa?

The fuel is subjected to tests to establish whether it meets the specifications for the Kenyan market. If the fuel is compliant, then it is discharged into tanks that separately hold petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel.

Fuel consignment which is off-spec but can be corrected is separately discharged into holding tanks from where it is corrected before being mixed with the rest.

Read: Fate of recalled Sh12bn controversial petrol unknown

However, if the consignment is completely off-spec and cannot be corrected, then it is rejected and ordered outside Kenya. The importing company found guilty is penalised, including suspension from importing fuel.

How is fuel transferred from vessels upon arrival at the port of Mombasa?

When a vessel docks the port of Mombasa, the product is primarily received through the Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) II jetty and then discharged into bulk tanks at Kipevu Oil Storage Facilities, Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) or terminals that are privately owned.

Vitol Tank Terminals Limited and One Petroleum own private terminals with capacities of 111,057 cubic metres and 36,000 cubic metres respectively.

How does the discharge happen?

Fuel is separately pumped from vessels to the separate storage tanks based on the grade (petrol, diesel and dual-purpose kerosene).

However, dual-purpose kerosene meant for the aviation sector is separately stored from the one meant for cooking or lighting by homes.

How is fuel pumped from the port of Mombasa?

KPC has a single pipeline to pump fuel from the storage facilities at the port of Mombasa to the depot spread across the country.

The fuel is pumped in a sequence with diesel going in first followed by dual-purpose kerosene and then petrol. Dual-purpose kerosene acts as a cleaning agent to avoid contamination of petrol in the pipeline.

However, this sequence can be altered depending on which fuel grade needs urgent replenishing.

How do OMCs get fuel to their private depots?

A few OMCs have private depots where they store fuel for their retail outlets. The OMCs can either truck fuel from the port of Mombasa to these depots or rely on the pipeline to get the product to these tanks and ultimately to their retail outlets.

For example, Vivo Energy has bulk storage facilities in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nanyuki. It has tanks at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Wilson Airport, Mombasa International Airport and Malindi Airport to store dual-purpose kerosene (aviation fuel).

Truck loading happens at KPC's terminals and depots at Moi International Airport, Embakasi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and KPRL.

How big is the KPC network?

KPC’s unidirectional pipeline spans 1,342 kilometres pumping of fuel from the receiving tanks at the port of Mombasa to depots in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu and private bulk storage facilities.

Additionally, there are 11 pump stations from Mombasa through Konza to Nairobi to bolster pressure and ensure seamless pumping of fuel.

KPC’s active storage owned/managed tanks have a capacity of 1,138,324 cubic metres (1.138 billion litres).

How many depots does KPC have and what is their capacity?

KPC’s depots have a combined capacity of 884,000 cubic metres (884 million litres) ensuring sufficient storage of fuel for the local and regional (transit markets).

These are the KPRL, Moi International Airport, KOSF (all in Mombasa), Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and PS10 (both in Nairobi), Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu.

The biggest depot is the KOSF terminal which has a capacity of 326 million litres.

→ jmutua@ke.nationmedia.com

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