Six petrol stations selling adulterated fuel have been shut down by the
Energy Regulation Commission.
The commission took the decision after inspecting
753 petroleum stations between July and September.
In a statement on Friday, ERC said they conducted
4,459
tests at the petrol sites.
"From the tests,
97.5 per cent
were found to be compliant but
19 sites turned to be non-compliant," the statement said.
The six that were closed were among the 19.
They include Legit Kinamba in Nyandarua, Capital filling station Busibwabo
in Busia, Sylvester Okoth filing station in Busia, Petronas service station in Kiambu.
Others are Josna in Nairobi's Utawala estate and Yatcher in Trans Nzoia.
Kinamba was found to be selling
super petrol contaminated with domestic
kerosene and offering diesel contaminated with kerosene.
Sylvester, Capital
and Yatcher were closed for selling
super petrol contaminated with domestic
kerosene.
Petronas
offered sale of super petrol and diesel meant
for export and also offering diesel contaminated with domestic kerosene.
Josna offered sale of super petrol and diesel meant
for export.
The Energy Regulatory Commission
reopened 13 other sites after upgrading the products and paying penalties.
The penalties ranged from Sh20,000 to Sh500,000.
They are
- Safari Petroleum limited (Kilifi)
- Safari Petroleum limited (Mombasa)
- Oil Tec Modern (Githioro)
- Two in one filling station (Kariua)
- Rocky filling station (Kabiyet)
- Jubilee Mosoriot (Mosoriot)
- Simwata
filling station (Ndori)
- Dalphon
filling station (Bondo)
- Imani
filling
station (Nyamonye)
- J and J
filling
station (Bondo)
- Buraq Petroleum limited (Majengo)
- Oilcom Agni Service Station (Kisumu)
- Rodi Junction Filling station (Homa Bay)
Last year,
ERC blacklisted 56 unscrupulous oil marketers for using kerosene to contaminate fuel before selling it to unsuspecting motorists.
ERC said it had taken action against petrol stations found culpable of selling adulterated oil.
In September 2015, ERC launched a retailer self-test kit for fuel products, for testing upon delivery before acceptance into storage tanks.
The commission said the kits would help eliminate illegal practices such as the diversion of petroleum products meant for export into the domestic market.
The kit uses technology known as the lateral flow device that is easy to use and greatly reduces the time and cost of monitoring and testing petroleum products.
The commission, through Energy Act 2006, was awarded the legal mandate of managing the petroleum marking and monitoring programme.