The price of cooking gas has fallen below Sh. 3,000. Currently, the 13-kilogram cylinder is going at Sh. 2,954.36 on average nationwide. However, it is buyers purchasing their cooking gas from small retail shops that are benefitting.

At Uchumi and Naivas supermarket outlets in Westlands, Nairobi, the 13-kg cylinder is priced at Sh2,990.

Oilibya and Shell petrol stations on Waiyaki Way price the same quantity at Sh2,800 and Sh2,700 respectively.

Shell is refilling the six-kilo canister for Sh1,400, while Oilibya prices the same at Sh1,290.

In Nakuru, small retailers are selling the gas at a bargained price of Sh. 2,600. Vendors in residential areas in Nairobi are selling the 13-kg cylinder for as low as Sh2,200 and Sh1,000 for the six-kilo canister.

According to the Petroleum Institute of East Africa, in defence of oil marketers, said estate vendors manage to sell LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas] at much lower prices due to tax evasion.

“In most instances, estate vendors of LPG evade Value Added Tax [pegged at 16 per cent] and serve as outlets for LPG that has been added in Kenya without duties and taxes,” PIEA chairman Polycarp Igathe told The Star newspaper.

It is alleged that about 70 per cent of the LPG business in the country is being handled by the cartels. Igathe said the playing field is uneven, adding that major LPG dealers always pay tax. “Major dealers are losing out. The consumer should be cautious too because the quality of estate LPG is not guaranteed either,” he said.

According to Reuters news network, the spot price of LNG-AS dropped to $7.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, the lowest since July 2010 and down almost 65 per cent from the same time last year. Locally the price of cooking gas remained above Sh3,000 for 11 months straight in 2014, at some point touching a 32-month high of Sh3,111.74 in September. Last month’s was Sh64 lower than December’s average of Sh3,018.45.