Oil dealers fault cooking gas import approval disparities

An LPG tanker heads into the Port of Mombasa /HANDOUT

Firms keen on importing cooking gas under the planned Open Tender System are concerned that gaps in standards approvals between Kebs and its licensed global inspection firms is creating confusion in the market.

The latest is the rejection and later approval of a five-million-kilogramme gas shipment imported by Kilifi-based Tanzanian firm­–Lake Gas. This is despite the shipment having been approved by a Kenya Bureau of Standards appointed agent–SGS and issued with a Pre-export verification of Conformity (PVoC).

Clearing and shipment documents seen by the Star show the product estimated at $2.9 million (Sh381.5 million) from Saudi Arabia was issued with a PVoC dated September 9, 2025, with tests having been conducted by SGS Dubai on behalf of the exporter - Energia Trading International SA at Jeddah Anchorage.

According to the latest KS EAS 1105:2025 Kenya Standard—Liquefied Petroleum Gas, products for domestic “Shall not contain more than 40 per cent propane when tested.

The cargo was first rejected upon arrival at the Kipevu Oi Terminal in Mombasa over alleged “safety concerns”, before the standards body making a u-turn to declare the product fit for the Kenyan market.

“Samples were drawn from Tank 4 and Tank 2 on 09/09/2025 from the consignment imported by yourselves .The samples were tested against specification requirements KS EAS 1105 :2025 KENYA STANDARD. The samples complied with the requirements of the Standard in the parameters tested,” Kebs’ inspection manager for Coast region, Hassan Abdikheir, said in a letter dated September 11, to Lake Gas management.

“Consequently, the consignment in Tank 4 and Tank 2 is hereby released by Kebs and you are free to offer the product for sale in the local market," he added.

This was a contradiction from an earlier decision even as Kebs management disowned an earlier letter that had declared 4,075.525 tonnes of butane and 926.473 tonnes of propane unsafe over excess levels of propane and insufficient butane.

“Kenya Bureau of Standards assures the general public that the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the market is safe for use. Contrary to reports circulating online indicating that the Bureau has rejected consignment from Lake Gas Limited, Kebs wishes to inform the public that the said rejection letter did not originate from Kebs,” it said.

It however noted that a consignment of LPG from Lake Gas Limited was recently subjected to sampling, testing and certification.

“Kebs therefore wishes to assure the public that the LPG from Lake Gas Limited meets the quality standards and is safe for use,” management said.

Sector players  however termed the move by Kebs as "contradicting and frustrating" to OMCs.

Supplycor, an independent entity incorporated by the OMCs in Kenya to coordinate activities along the fuel supply chain, wants Kebs to “put its house in order”.

A section of OMCs point to a ploy to frustrate other market players whose dominance is said to have been threatened by the incoming Open Tender System.

“We cannot have a Kebs licenses inspection company conduct all the necessary tests, give the approval for shipment then all of a sudden the cargo is not fit and later approved, this is creating confusion in the industry,” a top Supplycordirector who is also a CEO of a a leading OMC told the Star, in anonymity

This is the second time Lake Gas is facing hiccups with LPG imports since commissioning itsover Sh10.4 billion LPG terminal in Vipingo earlier this year.

In June, the facility, which is being expanded with an additional 15,000 tonnes of LPG handing capacity, received 11,475 tonnes of LPG from Nigeria aboard MT Barumk Gas.

“The current regime has been pushing towards clean energy and we believe this infrastructure has come at the right time to help the country achieve cleaner energy,” Lake Gas Limited general manager Morris Mutiso said.

Entry of the Tanzanian firm and other planned entries into the LPG market is said to have rattled a number of players, among them Mombasa-based African Gas and Oil Limited (Agol), which has for years handled over 90 per cent of the cooking gas imported for Kenya.

Lake Gas is targeting both the handling of bulk LPG imports and the retail market with its facility, the second largest in the country after Agol’s.

Kenya Pipeline Company and a number of private firms, including Tanzania's Taifa Gas, are also in the process of setting up terminals for handling imports of LPG, amid a steady growth in its use.

Consumption last year was at about 414,861 metric tonnes up from 360,594 metric tonnes in 2023, EPRA data shows.