The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) will acquire the defunct State-owned Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) at no cost in a plan aimed at strengthening the country’s petroleum supply chain infrastructure.
KPRL acting general manager Tom Mailu said the plan which received the Cabinet green light last week entails the transfer of shares of the refinery currently in the hands of the Treasury to KPC, as the state moves to bolster the security of petroleum supply.
“We wanted KPRL to transfer us the refinery at no cost so that we can enhance the value of the facility to shareholders,” said Mr Mailu in a telephone interview with the Business Daily Friday.
Mr Mailu said KPC needed to acquire the refinery because both entities are owned by the state. Currently, the government owns the refinery 100 percent.
“We are in the same business and we are working with the same skilled staff. If KPC acquires KPRL, we will increase KPC’s storage facility and make Mombasa a storage hub,” he said.
KPRL was placed under the management of KPC in 2017 as a storage facility for imported crude oil after Indian investor Essar failed to revive the country’s only oil refinery.
Essar Energy Overseas Ltd, which had for seven years held a 50 percent stake in the refinery and pocketed $5 million (Sh710 million) from the National Treasury when it exited in 2016.
