The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has retained the fuel prices that were in force in October for the November-December 2026 pricing cycle, sparing motorists and households an increase despite rising international petroleum costs.
In a notice shared on X on Saturday, November 14, 2026, EPRA announced that the maximum retail pump prices for Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene would remain unchanged from November 15 to December 14, 2026.
The authority said it had calculated the new prices in accordance with Section 101(y) of the Petroleum Act 2019 and Legal Notice No. 192 of 2022, taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products during the period under review.
“Taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products in the period under review, the maximum allowed retail petroleum pump prices for Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene remain unchanged,” EPRA stated.
The decision means consumers will continue paying the same pump prices that applied during the previous pricing cycle, despite increases in the cost of importing all three petroleum products.
Diesel recorded an even higher increase of 6.73 per cent, with its landed cost rising from US$1,065.38 per cubic metre to US$1,137.09 over the same period.
Kerosene also registered an increase, although at a lower rate of 0.71 per cent, with its average landed cost moving from US$1,098.31 per cubic metre in September to US$1,106.11 in October.
Despite the increases, the government applied money from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund to prevent the higher import costs from being passed on to consumers through increased pump prices.
EPRA revealed that the government had applied KSh 4.6 billion from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund to stabilise the computed pump prices for the November-December cycle.
The intervention cushioned consumers from increases that would otherwise have been reflected at petrol stations, with the authority estimating that Super Petrol would have risen by Ksh 8.58 per litre.
Diesel would have recorded a KSh 10.54 per litre increase, while Kerosene would have gone up by Ksh 1.16 per litre had the government not intervened.
“The Government has applied KSh 4.6 billion from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund to stabilise the computed petroleum pump prices for the November-December 2026 cycle,” EPRA stated.
The authority explained that the intervention was intended to cushion consumers from the impact of higher landed costs, which had increased across the three petroleum products between September and October.
The current pump prices are also inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) at 8 per cent, a rate EPRA said was in line with government policy aimed at protecting consumers from the negative effects of high international petroleum prices.
International oil prices
EPRA further explained that Kenya imports all its petroleum product requirements in refined form, making local pump prices dependent on the costs incurred in international markets.
The products are traded internationally using established pricing benchmarks, meaning changes in the global cost of refined petroleum products affect the calculations used to determine local retail prices.
The authority also pointed to the exchange rate between the United States dollar and the Kenyan shilling as another factor considered when calculating pump prices.
Since international petroleum purchases are denominated in US dollars, the exchange rate is applied when converting the import costs into Kenyan shillings for local pricing.
The authority said the petroleum pricing regulations were designed to cap the retail prices of petroleum products already in the country while allowing importation and other prudently incurred costs to be recovered.
“The purpose of the Petroleum Pricing Regulations is to cap the retail prices of petroleum products which are already in the country so that importation and other prudently incurred costs are recovered while ensuring reasonable prices to consumers,” EPRA stated.