A fuel pump nozzle.
Saudi Aramco has dropped Oryx Energies Limited as its local importer of diesel in the government-backed fuel importation deal, making the Kenyan oil marketing company (OMC) the first to be kicked out of the deal.
Correspondence seen by the Business Daily shows that the Saudi Arabian oil major communicated its decision to replace Oryx Energies with Asharami & One Petroleum on December 20, 2023.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Mohamed Liban then communicated Saudi Aramco’s decision to the rest of the OMCs on January 3, 2024.
Saudi Aramco had picked Oryx Energies to import diesel since April last year under the government-to-government (G2G) deal that Kenya signed with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi.
Industry uproar
Oryx Energies is the first local oil marketer to be dropped from the deal, months after it sought to sell diesel to other OMCs at higher prices than the one agreed, causing industry uproar.
“Aramco Trading Fujairah has advised us of their nominated OMCs as One Petroleum and Asharami Synergy along with Galana Energies for the supply of petroleum products,” Mr Liban says in the letter to OMCs.
PS Liban and Oryx Energies managing director Angeline Maangi declined to respond to queries from the Business Daily over the matter.
Diesel cargo
“We have on-boarded Asharami & One Petroleum as nominated OMCs along with Galana for Aramco Trading diesel supply,” reads part of an email exchange seen by Business Daily.
One Petroleum is expected to discharge its first diesel cargo between February 20 to 24. The prices have, however, not been changed.
Oryx Energies was hand-picked in March last year alongside Galana and Gulf Oil to import on a 180-day credit period on behalf of the rest of the industry.
The ministry letter dated January 3 did not disclose the reasons why Oryx Energies was dropped, but the OMC had last year sought to change the pricing month of some 85,000 metric tonnes of diesel from August to July, after the discharge of the cargo was delayed to between August 19 and August 21 from the earlier date of between August 12 and 14.
