Kenyan oil marketers shipped out 48.12 million litres of the condemned petrol to the Demoratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, offering a trail on the movement of the controversial fuel that triggered the ouster of three top officials in the energy sector.
About 39 oil marketers, mainly independents, sold 28.45 million litres of the consignment in DRC and a further 19.67 million litres in South Sudan in June, according to documents tabled in the Senate–which investigated the controversial cargo.
The State ordered the exit of 66.29 million litres of contested petrol from the country and barred oil marketers from selling the cargo, claiming it was illegal and substandard.
Shipping schedules from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) indicated the fuel arrived at the port on March 27, 2026 and was discharged at Kenya Pipeline Company’s Kipevu Oil Terminal II amid fears that part of the emergency cargo had been consumed by local motorists.
The 48.12 million litres was part of the 66.29 million litres of petrol that One Petroleum shipped into Kenya aboard MT Paloma outside the government-to-government (G-to-G) arrangement as emergency stock to avert an outage of fuel in April this year.
One Petroleum had been tapped alongside Oryx Energies to import petrol outside the G-to-G framework, but the State later cancelled the agreement.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi reckoned that the emergency importation of fuel was in breach of supply contracts Kenya inked with
Saudi Aramco Trading Fujairah, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Global Trading Ltd, and Emirates National Oil Company Singapore Ltd, arguing that the firms were all meeting their contractual obligations.
But oil executives poked holes into the State’s directive, saying that it was unrealistic and a populist move which had raised more questions and one that could see banks become jittery over funding importation of fuel.
KPC told the Senate committee that despite raising the alarm, the fuel still managed to find its way into the market. The pipeline operator said at the time it was impossible to retrieve the fuel that One Petroleum delivered, contrary to Mr Wandayi’s assertions that the fuel was recalled.
“To date, 48.12 million litres of the product had been consigned to regional buyers, comprising consignments destined to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while approximately 18.17 million litres remained held by One Petroleum pending disposal in regional markets,” the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said in documents tabled before Senate.
Transport hitches along the routes to DRC hindered the exit of the remaining 18.17 million litres from the local market.
“Disposal of the product in the regional markets has been slower than anticipated due to logistical challenges affecting regional trade flows, particularly disruptions along the DRC transit corridor, which have affected the movement and uptake of DRC-bound consignments,” the KRA added.
Three top State officials in the energy sector were arrested and later resigned over the deal.
Mohamed Liban, the Principal Secretary for Petroleum, Joe Sang, the Managing Director of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and Daniel Kiptoo, the director-general of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) resigned in April, two days after their arrest.
The condemned cargo was discharged and mixed with existing stocks of petrol in the storage network of KPC, with part of it allegedly sold locally by the time the order to re-route it was issued.
The Mombasa-based One Petroleum imported the consignment and loaded it into KPC tanks between March 27-30.
One Petroleum was on March 19 invited alongside BE Energy, Hass Petroleum and Oryx Energies to bid for the supply of the emergency stocks of petrol.
The winning firms were to deliver the fuel between March 28 and April 2.
Within three days of the award of the deal, One Petroleum secured a vessel owned by BP and headed to Angola. The shipment did not conform to Kenyan fuel standards. One Petroleum then sought waivers on the specifications from the government.
KPA records show that MT Paloma arrived at the outer limits of the port of Mombasa on March 27 at 0230 hours and was brought to berth at Kipevu Oil Terminal 11 at 2042 hours.
It completed discharging the consignment into the KPC storage network at 1212 hours on March 30 and sailed out of the port at 1920 hours.
One Petroleum protested the cancellation, saying that it incurred substantial commercial losses tied to demurrage, customs warehouse rent and inability to liquidate the product at its cost, besides reputational damage.
The firm said that it had not initiated litigation against the State for the botched deal.
“To date, no penalties or formal liabilities have been imposed on the company by the government arising from the transaction. One Petroleum has not made any claim against the government,” One Petroleum said in documents tabled in the Senate in June.
One Petroleum was tapped alongside Oryx Energies to supply the emergency stock of petrol in the wake of a decision by Kenya’s top security organ, the National Security Council Committee (NSCC), to import the backup cargoes of petrol.
Documents show that the oil marketers paid Sh5.10 billion in taxes for 61.84 million litres that had been declared for sale locally.
“Of the taxes paid on the cancelled declarations, approximately Sh2.8 billion has been applied against new customs declarations from subsequent vessels by the affected OMCs collected,” the KRA said in documents dated June 9, 2026.
“Accordingly, the MT Paloma consignment remains fully accounted for under customs control.”
