UGANDA FUEL PRICES DROPS BELOW 5000UGX

Uganda’s pump prices have continued to drop, with some fuel stations selling a litre of petrol below Shs 5,000.

For instance Stabex sells petrol at Shs 4,799 per litre in many parts of Uganda while diesel goes for Shs4,699 per litre.

Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Tony Otoa said the new pump prices reflected “close to Shs 1,000 reduction since UNOC started importing petroleum products for Uganda.”

Earlier this year, the government took over the mandate of sourcing and importing petroleum products, eliminating the role of Kenyan middlemen. 

The Uganda National Bureau Statistics (UBOS) reported at the end of September that Annual Energy Fuel and Utilities (EFU) Inflation was recorded at 4.5 percent in the year ending September 2024 compared to 4.7 percent that was registered in the year ended August 2024. 

“This is mainly due to Liquid Energy Fuels Inflation that recorded minus 2.0 percent in the year ending September 2024 compared to 3.8 percent registered in the year ended August 2024,” said UBOS’ principal statistician Edgar Niyimpa.

“This was driven by prices of Petrol and Diesel that decreased by minus 2.2 percent compared to 6.7 percent in August 2024 and minus 2.6 percent compared to 0.8 percent in August 2024 respectively,” he added. 

“Diesel prices decreased by 1.

While Vivvo and Total are selling a litre of petrol at slightly above Shs 5,000, many other deals are below Shs 5,000. 

Luqman now sells a litre of petrol at Shs 4,600. Issa Kietoo, marketing manager at Stabex Uganda, one of the dealers, was recently quoted as saying oil marketing companies were saving over Ush100-Ush150 ($0.027-$0.040) on each litre of fuel landed in the country after the elimination of Kenya middlemen and the strengthening of the shilling against the dollar. 

In December 2023, UNOC assumed full responsibility for the importation of petroleum products following President Museveni’s signing of the Petroleum Supply (Amendment) Act, 2023. 

This was prompted by Kenya’s policy shift from the Open Tender System (OTS) to Government-Government (G2G), a process deemed lengthy with numerous stakeholders whose profit margins could impact pump prices. In March 2024, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority of Kenya handed UNOC a license. 

Uganda said direct imports of petroleum products would address Uganda’s security of supply, capacity building for UNOC and reduce the pressure on the national treasury”. 

UNOC distributes the products, which include petrol, diesel, jet fuel and kerosene to oil marketing companies (OMCs). UNOC said it negotiated competitive product costs with the supply partner and included clauses in the Agreements to ensure the product cost to Uganda always remains competitive.