KPC launches 1000MT LPG truck loading facility in Mombasa

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has launched an ultra-modern Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) truck loading facility at the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) in Changamwe, Mombasa.

The facility has an operating storage capacity of 1,000MT. It is equipped with two loading bays and can load at least 20 trucks per day with a turnaround time of 45 minutes per truck, the company announced.

KPC and KPRL were represented by finance general manager Pius Mwendwa, strategy general manager Zilper Abong’o, operations manager Martin Wanyama, marketing and business development manager Grace Njoroge and KPRL general manager Tom Mailu.

The facility will help fasten the loading and transportation of cooking gas from Mombasa to other parts of the country. Mombasa is a key entry point for cooking gas imported into the country. It accounted for 59% of all imports in the year to June 2024.

Other leading entry points for cooking gas into Kenya are Namanga (27%) and Loitoktok (13%), both of which are border posts between Kenya and Tanzania. A further 1% is imported through Lunga Lunga and Taita Taveta. This means that 41% of Kenya’s LPG is imported through Tanzania.

The launch of the cooking gas truck loading facility by KPC comes at a time when demand for cooking gas continues to rise, partially due to removal of taxes by the government.

Kenya’s consumption of cooking gas stood at 360,594MT in the year ended June 2024, according to data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).

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The KPRL storage facility has been hailed by government officials as key in enhancing the country’s energy security. KPC completed the acquisition of KPRL in October last year, making KPRL a subsidiary of KPC. KPC bought KPRL without paying any money for the parastatal.

Before its acquisition, KPRL was a standalone parastatal wholly owned by the National Treasury that used to refine crude oil in Kenya before the facility ceased operations in September 2013 amid rising operational costs.

At the time of the transfer, then Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the facility would be used as a storage hub for petroleum products, enhancing KPC’s storage capacity.

Kenya currently has two jetties, Shimanzi Oil Terminal (SOT) and the African Gas and Oil Company Limited (AGOL), which are used to receive LPG into bulk storage facilities within Mombasa. AGOL, which is privately-owned, has the largest bulk storage capacity of 25,000MT. SOT connects to 5 LPG bulk storage facilities. Further, there are 134 LPG bulk storage and filling plants distributed in various parts of the country.

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