Kenya’s fuel pricing review lands today with Murban crude — the benchmark for local pump caps — already above $100 a barrel after a sharp one-week climb flagged by the Central Bank of Kenya.
In its weekly bulletin released Friday, October 9, the CBK said Murban rose to $101.67 per barrel on October 8 from $95.76 on October 1, a move of roughly 6 per cent. “Murban crude oil prices increased to USD 101.67 per barrel on October 8 from USD 95.76 per barrel on October 1, driven by supply concerns associated with ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East,” the bank stated, according to Tuko. People Daily put the October 8 print near Sh13,200 a barrel at prevailing exchange rates.
What EPRA decides today
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority is due to publish maximum retail prices on October 14 for the cycle running October 15 to November 14. In the current cycle that ends today, Nairobi maximums remain Sh214.03 a litre for super petrol, Sh217.86 for diesel and Sh191.38 for kerosene — levels EPRA held from the previous review that ended September 14.
Analysts and transporters watch the landed-cost arithmetic: a firmer crude print narrows room to keep caps flat unless the shilling, inventory timing or any stabilisation mechanism offsets the import bill. Kenya imports refined products priced off international benchmarks, so a sustained Murban jump typically feeds into the monthly formula even when the currency is relatively steady.
Inflation and freight on watch
Fuel is a primary cost line for road freight, matatus, manufacturers and farm logistics. The CBK’s Middle East supply note lands after a year in which households and businesses have already tracked monthly electricity and petroleum adjustments. EPRA’s evening gazette will show whether the authority passes through part of the crude spike, holds prices again, or leans on other formula components. Until then, the market signal from CBK’s weekly table is clear: the crude input into Kenya’s October 15–November 14 pump schedule has moved meaningfully higher than a week earlier.
Photo: Queen Asali / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sources: Tuko, People Daily, Wikimedia Commons. Last updated October 2026.
