The LPG Agenda

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The widespread use of charcoal and firewood to cook in Kenyan homes continues to cause thousands of deaths among women and children from pneumonia and respiratory diseases caused by the deadly smoke, while drying up the country’s water catchment areas through deforestation.

For these reasons, in 2009, the government of Kenya passed into law the country’s first Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) regulations to promote the use of LPG as a ‘clean fuel’ for domestic cooking.

This delivered a step-change in the number of Kenyan using LPG where consumption rose from 1kg to 2.5 kg per person per year but the country continued to lag behind countries, such as Senegal, Turkey and South Africa that had achieved a rate of 12 kg, 15kg and 6kg per person per year as LPG moved to become their primary cooking fuel.

Moreover, safety issues emerged due to illegal cylinder refills that caused leakages and explosions in the home, with three of Kenya’s largest insurance firms reporting that LPG-related incidents were driving domestic insurance claims.

The impact of the deterioration in safety, confused liability, and a misalignment of cylinder investment and brand ownership, led to declining investment in the Kenyan LPG industry by oil marketers.

As a result, the Government of Kenya drew up new Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) regulations to seal all the loopholes created by the previous regulatory framework and to sustainably reform the segment. The Government policy goal is to achieve LPG consumption of 15 kg per person per year and increase safe cylinder investment from three million to 18 million cylinders in circulation.

PIEA is working in partnership with the government and LPG market participants to ensure the regulations are abided by; to stop malpractices, which have been killing Kenyans; and boost the levels of investment in the LPG industry.