Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
Kenya fuel jitters as two key Gulf supply routes hit
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Opiyo Wandayi, before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Energy, chaired by Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria, at the Parliament Buildings Nairobi on April 13, 2026 regarding the importation of sub-standard petroleum products outside the G-to-G framework.
Kenya faces a bleak petroleum supply outlook after an escalated Middle East conflict triggered the shutdown of a key pipeline in Saudi Arabia that had served as an alternative route following blockades on the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia has shut its 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, following drone attacks that hit sections of the critical infrastructure in the Riyadh and Medina areas.
The East-West pipeline, which was built during the Iran-Iraq War in the early 1980s, allowed State-owned Saudi Aramco to maintain exports by moving crude from its oilfields in Abqaiq on the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea without relying on Gulf shipping routes.
“The pipeline was shut down as a precautionary measure,” Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said following the drone attacks that are said to have been launched from Iraq.
The closure of the East-West pipeline signals fresh pressure for Kenya and other countries that have for months relied on the facility for supply of refined fuel following a near paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz over continued attacks on shipping vessels amid raging US-Israel war against Iran.
“We must live in the realities of the global energy markets due to the Middle East conflict, and every new development including the closure of the East-West pipeline complicates this matter,” Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi told the Business Daily.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical chokepoint linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Before the war, more than a fifth of oil globally – about 20 million barrels per day(bpd) – passed through the strait. Reports by Reuters now put the flow at about 6-9 million bpd through the strait, a dramatic reduction in the volume.
The East-West Pipeline provided a direct advantage by allowing Saudi Arabia to continue supplying international customers while reducing dependence on the vulnerable shipping corridor.
The infrastructure advantage turned Saudi Aramco into the biggest beneficiary of Kenya’s government-to-government (G-to-G) fuel import programme after the war, shifting the balance away from the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).
Before the conflict, the UAE’s ADNOC and ENOC had been major suppliers to Kenya under the G-to-G arrangement, with fuel deliveries largely sourced through Gulf export terminals.
The agreement, signed in March 2023, allows Kenya to import petrol, diesel and jet fuel from Saudi Aramco, ADNOC and ENOC on 180-day credit terms.
The impact of the East-West pipeline on Kenya trade was registered in the quarter to May 2026 when Nairobi imported Sh99.78 billion worth of goods from Saudi Arabia, more than double the Sh42.10 billion shipped from the UAE during the same period.
Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed that prior to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions due to the US-Israel war with Iran, the UAE had a firm lead over Saudi Arabia in trade with Kenya.
For example, Kenya imported Sh22.99 billion worth of goods from the Emirates in January and Sh30.75 billion in February, compared with Sh13.50 billion and Sh11.35 billion from Saudi Arabia. The trend, however, reversed after the conflict began, with Saudi Arabia overtaking the UAE in March and widening the gap each month through May.
Saudi exports to Kenya rose to Sh24.60 billion in March, Sh31.50 billion in April and Sh43.69 billion in May, according to KNBS figures. The disruptions on the East-West pipeline and the Strait of Hormuz means fresh jitters for Kenya.
“As a country, the G-to-G has proved to be a fallback, and the oil majors are free to source fuel outside the Middle East region; thus we can guarantee security of supply, but what we cannot guarantee is the prices,” Mr Wandayi said.
Disruptions of the East-West pipeline and the Strait of Hormuz have already sent jitters across the global energy markets, with prices of Brent crude on Monday hitting $107 (Sh13,859.71).
This marks the second consecutive week where prices of Brent crude have hovered above the $100 (Sh12,953)-mark as the markets respond to the escalation of the US-Iran war.
It signals prices pressure for Kenya in the short term despite the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority keeping pump prices unchanged in the monthly cycle to October 14.
A litre of diesel and petrol will retail at Sh217.86 and Sh214.03 respectively in Nairobi, while that of kerosene will go for Sh191.38 in the capital.
Local industry executives in the petroleum sector say that Kenya will take a hit next month, with pump prices set to rise unless the State applies the subsidy to cushion consumers.
“The recent escalation of the war has an impact on the refined products and already, in the past few days, the Platts prices for super have gone up by an average of $87 per cubic metre and $57 for the same quantity of diesel,” said an executive who sought anonymity. “Based on the information that we currently have on the daily Platts for the last nine days, the prices will definitely go up in the monthly cycle from October 14.”
The G-to-G deal was tested early this year after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz made it impossible for ENOC to deliver a consignment of petrol that had been loaded at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai.
Closure of the Hormuz point forced the three oil majors to rely on ports in India and Europe to load refined fuel meant for Kenya, triggering costly freight charges and ultimately expensive fuel in the country.
