Government Moves to Regulate Cooking Gas Prices

The Kenyan government has introduced new regulations allowing private firms to offer their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminals for common use under an Open Tender System (OTS) to import cooking gas.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) confirmed that the Petroleum (Operation of Common User Petroleum Facilities) Regulations 2025 now permit the designation of private LPG terminals as interim common-user facilities. This will continue until the Kenya Pipeline Company completes a 30,000-tonne public LPG terminal in Changamwe.

Epra Director General Daniel Kiptoo said the framework aims to increase competition and lower consumer prices. The OTS model, already used for petrol, diesel, and kerosene, awards import contracts to the lowest bidder who meets quality standards. 

Extending it to LPG is intended to break monopolies and pass global price reductions to consumers. Despite the removal of Value Added Tax and other levies, retail prices of cooking gas have remained high. Leading oil marketers such as Vivo Energy, Rubis, and TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya currently sell 13-kilogramme cylinders for about Sh3,300 and six-kilogramme cylinders for Sh1,300. 

These prices have remained largely unchanged for over a year, even as wholesale prices at the Mombasa port have fallen from Sh100 to Sh88 per kilogramme. The entry of Tanzanian company Lake Gas, which operates a 10,000-tonne LPG terminal in Vipingo, Kilifi County, introduces competition against the dominant 25,000-tonne terminal run by African Gas and Oil Company. 

This is expected to enhance competition among terminal operators and support the OTS objectives. Epra will regulate tariffs for storage and handling at private terminals, allowing owners to earn revenue while supporting national energy goals. Terminal owners will have a transition period to honour existing agreements before full integration into the OTS.