KPRL Resort to Emergency Imports

Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) has resorted to emergency import of additive chemicals from Zambia to address an acute shortage of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).

KPRL General Manager John Mruttu said the cargo has been ordered through Tanzania and normal production of LPG is expected to resume today. The additive known as stench is injected into the gas for safety reasons. Lack of gas in the last 10 days has caused a crisis in households and some industries in Mombasa.

Production

Industrialists at the weekend said they had been forced to either scale down production or close down following the shortage.

KPRL, which supplies half of the country’s LPG, attributed the shortage to lack of additive chemicals.

The chemical was expected in Mombasa yesterday.

Milly Glass Works in Mombasa said it had closed down three out of the four production lines leading to a Sh1.5 million loss a day.

Vice chairman Mohamed Raza Rashid described the situation as a crisis to industrialists.

He urged Minister for Energy Kiraitu Murungi and PS Patrick Nyoike to intervene and ensure steady importation of the additive chemicals for treating the LPG in the country.

"We cannot run our furnace without LPG, but the commodity has not been available in the market for the last two weeks," Rashid said.

Mruttu said the country consumed about 75,000 tonnes of LPG last year, with 33,000 tonnes produced at KPRL.

Author: Jo Amey