Kenya’s cooking gas prices are heading upward next month, according to oil marketers, after Saudi Aramco raised its contract prices following attacks on a Saudi Red Sea port that squeezed regional supply. It’s a reversal of the relief households had seen since May, when cylinder prices had been easing.
A 13kg cylinder in Nairobi currently sells for between roughly KSh3,225 and KSh3,400 (about $25–$26), with Rubis Energy’s refill price already down from KSh3,530 earlier this year — a dip that’s about to go back into reverse. Because cooking gas is a recurring monthly household cost rather than a one-off purchase, even modest per-shilling increases compound quickly for families, and for lower-income households a sharp enough rise can push them back toward cheaper but less clean alternatives like charcoal or kerosene. That risk is notable given that Kenyan cooking gas consumption has kept climbing despite recent price swings, with usage in the six months to June 2026 running ahead of the same period a year earlier.
Adding to the pressure, Kenya’s reduced 8% VAT rate on petrol, diesel, and kerosene (cut down from 16% in April 2026) is set to expire in mid-October, and the government has yet to say whether it will extend the relief again, as it already did once in July. Cooking gas itself is VAT-exempt and unaffected by that particular decision, but industry executives quoted by Business Daily say petrol, diesel, and kerosene are also expected to rise next month — even though the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) held pump prices flat for the current September 15–October 14 cycle, with Super Petrol at KSh214.03, Diesel at KSh217.86, and Kerosene at KSh191.38 in Nairobi.
The broader driver behind rising global energy costs traces back to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor that normally carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply — disruptions serious enough that the US Energy Information Administration has raised its oil-price forecasts as global inventories decline.