Reliance, BP to enter Kenya aviation fuel market

Nairobi: The announcement that 10 more foreign airlines are lining up to make an entry into the Kenyan market is set to kick off a vicious battle for control of the aviation fuel market as oil marketers scramble to grow their market share.
The airlines, including established players such as Germany’s Lufthansa, intend to serve a web of routes in Africa, Asia and Europe with Jomo Kenya International Airport (JKIA) forming their fuelling point.
Already, growth prospects have caught the eyes of low cost players, led by Indian giants Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum, who are planning to make an entry in the aviation fuel market.
The twin firms have already acquired strategic segments of the oil business and are currently plotting to enter the other segments of the market with competitive pricing as their key selling point.
Mr Mwaura Ngaari, the external affairs manager at Kenya Shell, said the firms were likely to enter the aviation market given less barriers for entry.
Sector analysts, led by the industry lobby Petroleum Institute of East Africa, reckon that their entry looks set to tip the balance of power in the aviation market, which is in the firm grip of oil multinationals-Shell and Total Kenya.
In terms of volumes, aviation fuel comes in second behind diesel as the most traded fuel product in the country.
13/09/07 Michael Omondi/Business Daily Africa, Kenya

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Categories: Foreign Sep 2007