Africa-Press – Kenya. Strong economic activities in the transport, building, construction and other commercial sectors helped drive petroleum products consumption in the country this year, with nine month to September volumes growing to 4.8 billion litres.
This was an 11 per cent growth compared to the 4,318,696 cubic meters (4.3 billion litres) consumed in the same period last year, latest industry data indicates, covering all the key products of diesel, kerosene, fuel oils, jet fuel and petrol, key drivers of the economy mainly in agriculture, transport and manufacturing.
LPG consumption on the other hand increased by 15 per cent with 414,861 metric tonnes consumed in 2024 in comparison to 360,594 metric tonnes consumed in 2023.
The volume of LPG consumption in January to September 2025 was 359,613 MT, already signifying a positive growth of 20 per cent trajectory compared to January– September 2024 consumption
According to the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA), this increase is attributable to initiatives such as the zero rating of the product in June 2023, the promotion of clean cooking and the government led national LPG growth strategy that seeks to eradicate the domestic and industrial use of firewood, charcoal and other carbon emitting fuels that are derived from forests, as well as the elimination of domestic kerosene as primary sources of energy while switching to LPG.
“Notably the ongoing support from the regulator and policy maker on enforcement of the LPG regulations has boosted the much-needed investor confidence to deploy more cylinders in the market,” PIEA says in its third quarter-state of the oil industry report.
The stable macroeconomic environment, pegged on a stable shilling which has averaged at Sh129 to the US dollar for the better part of this year, cheaper loans on the back of the lowering of the base lending rate by CBK (currently at 9.55 per cent) and a single digit inflation at 4.5 per cent in November, helped drive consumption.
This, as the economy remained on a growth trajectory, expanding five per cent in the second quarter of 2025 compared to 4.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
The growth was mainly supported by growths in agriculture, forestry and fishing activities (4.4%), transportation and storage (5.4%) and financial and insurance (6.6%).
The growth was also supported by rebounds in construction and mining and quarrying activities that rose by 5.7 and 15.3 per cent, respectively, after contracting in the second quarter of 2024.
Quarterly petroleum products consumption has been growing this year. Q1 2025 consumption recorded a four per cent increase, with consumption rising to 1,552,976 cubic meters (1.55 billion litres), up from 1,490,637 cubic meters (1.49 bilion litres) in Q1 2024.
Q2 2025 showed further improvement with a 9.5 per cent increase to 1,561,740 cubic meters, compared to 1,426,333 cubic meters in Q2 2024 with Q3 2025 mirroring this positive trend, registering a 15 per cent growth compared to the 1,456,995 cubic meters recorded in Q3 2024.
“These improvements underscore the importance of continued government collaboration and support to the industry through a robust policy and regulatory framework—one that not only sustains investment and sector stability, but also stimulates growth across auxiliary sectors that rely on petroleum,” PIEA chairman Peter Murungi, who is also Vivo Energy Kenya MD, said.
The main product drivers were aviation fuel (Jet A-1), which recorded a 9.3 per cent growth, directly attributed to heightened local air travel, a positive indicator of improved activity within the tourism sector.
Uptake of diesel was 8.1 per cent up while petrol consumption went up 6.1, largely driven by sustained expansion in the transport and communications sector, reseller market, building and construction, and other commercial sectors.
Heavy fuel oils, which registered a significant 13.5 per cent growth, came with increased activity in energy production as well as the marine transportation segment.
Murungi said the government-to-government (G-2-G) fuel import deal with the gulf which helped ease dollar demand, has also played a critical role in stabilising the industry.
Kenya was spending at least $500 million (Sh65 billion) on fuel imports monthly.
The government, through National Treasury, also converted approximately Sh45 billion of the Sh60 billion accumulated fuel subsidy debt owed to oil marketing companies (OMCs), as of August 2022, into a three-year interest-earning government bond in June 2023.
This was done to settle the outstanding arrears amid cash flow challenges faced by the government and liquidity issues for the OMCs, which PIEA now says has been resolved.
Petroleum PS Mohamed Liban said the G-2-G deal helped save the economy which was facing a fuel crisis and a dollar shortage which had hit industries, threatening to sink the economy and drive up the cost of living.
“In the last 22 months or so, we have been able to stabilise the petroleum industry and fuel prices which is a key driver of the economy. Fuel is everything, from agricultyure, manufacturing to transport. Stable prices have helped bring down the cost of living,” he said.
