French oil major Rubis has overtaken TotalEnergies Marketing to become Kenya’s second largest oil marketer on the basis of market share.
New official data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that Rubis’ market share rose to 15.56 percent or 850.194 billion liters as of June this year from 14.05 percent six months ago.
TotalEnergies, also owned by France, fell to third place with a share of 15.06 percent (822.8 billion litres). However, TotalEnergies’ market share is higher compared to the 14.88 percent it achieved in December last year.
Vivo Energy, the retailer of Shell-branded petroleum products, consolidated its dominance as its share stabilized at 22.24 percent, or 1.22 trillion litres, from 22.07 percent as of December last year.
Rubis was the only company among the big three oil companies to record growth in its revenues in the six months ending in June, which explains the factors behind its increase in market share.
“The HH1 index (Herfindahl-Hirschman index) for the oil sector was 0.1079, a slight increase from 0.1037 in the previous financial year indicating increasing dominance of the three largest players controlling nearly 52 percent of the market,” Ipra says in its latest review it captures. The six months ending in June of this year.
The Herfindahl-Hirschman index measures the market concentration of an industry, that is, the size of companies relative to the industry in which they operate.
This is the first time in recent years that TotalEnergies has been dethroned as Kenya’s second largest oil marketer amid increasing competition from Rubis.
The three major oil companies now control 52 percent of the local oil market, compared to a combined share of 50.5 percent in December last year.
Rubis posted eight percent growth in revenue to €488 million (Sh67.38 billion) in the six months to June from €448 million (Sh68.4 billion) a year earlier, while Vivo Energy’s revenue fell two percent to $769 million. (Sh99.19 billion) from $785 million (Sh101.22 billion) in the same period.
Fuel consumption
Petrol consumption fell by 2.9 percent in the six months to June this year compared to the same period last year, while diesel consumption fell by 2.5 percent in the same period.
Ola Energy and Oryx Energies were the companies that lost the most market share, even as a number of their local rivals increased their share.
Ola’s share fell to 5.93% as of June, down from 7.06% in December last year, while Oryx’s share fell to 2.33% from 3.25% in the same period.
Its stake in Be Energy, linked to the family of veteran politician Raila Odinga, rose to 4.43% from 4.15%, while Galana’s stake rose slightly to 2.71% from 2.65%.
In recent years, Rubis has strengthened its rivalry with TotalEnergies in the battle for the domestic oil market.
This battle has taken the form of rapid opening of service stations in major cities and highways, mainly within walking distance of competitors.
Rubis’ market share is set to deepen further as the oil major is set to begin its partnership with the cash-strapped Kenya National Oil Corporation (NOC).
The move will see Rubis reach a greater number of consumers locally through more than 100 Nock fuel stations across the country.