Kenya's oil product marketeers have asked national standards regulator Kenya Bureau of Standards, or KEBS, to lower the flash point parameter for 50 ppm sulfur diesel on concerns over import availability once the country switches to the low sulfur grade next year.
The Petroleum Institute of East Africa is seeking to lower the minimum flash point to 60 degrees Celsius, from 66 degrees Celsius that was set under the new 50 ppm sulfur diesel specifications that will come into effect January 1, 2015.
"The new EAC (East African Community) standard reduces sulfur content from 500 ppm to 50 ppm yet it increases the minimum flash point from 60 degrees Celsius to 66 degrees Celsius while the reverse should be the case as the fuel becomes lighter with the sulfur content reduction which should be in tandem with a lower flash point," PIEA General Manager Wanjiku Manyara said in a letter dated September 22 to KEBS.
The EAC, of which Kenya is a part of, will fully switch to low sulfur diesel and gasoline from January 1, 2015.
For diesel, the maximum sulfur content will be cut to 50 ppm from 500 ppm, while its flash point will be raised to minimum 66 degrees Celsius from the current 60 degrees Celsius.
As for gasoline, the maximum sulfur content will be reduced to 150 ppm from 500 ppm, lead content will drop from 15 milligrams/liter to 13 mg/liter, while maximum density will fall from 780 kilograms/cubic meter to 771 kg/cu m, Platts reported previously.
The PIEA is an umbrella body that handles issues affecting the oil industry.
But in order to comply with the new flash point parameter for domestic diesel, pipeline operator Kenya Pipeline Company requires importers to deliver diesel with a higher flash point of minimum 72 degrees Celsius which could pose a challenge in buying the fuel from overseas refineries, Wanjiku added.
The higher flash point requirement is needed to buffer potential losses in quality, as diesel is transported in the same pipeline system as gasoline and kerosene.
Kenya's current import specifications for 500 ppm sulfur gasoil has a minimum flash point of 66 degrees Celsius, according to trade sources.
Low sulfur gasoil from major export refineries in Asia typically have a minimum flash point below 70 degrees Celsius that can meet East Africa's import specifications.
And EAC's switch to low sulfur motor fuels is likely to be supplied by 50 ppm or 10 ppm sulfur gasoil from the Middle East, India and Singapore, a Singapore-based trade source said Friday.
Exports of 50 ppm and 10 ppm sulfur gasoil from trading hub Singapore have minimum flash point of 66 degrees Celsius while supply from Indian refiners -- in particular Essar Oil and Reliance Industries Limited -- mostly have flash points ranging from 66 degrees Celsius to above 70 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, petroleum companies are waiting for a meeting to be set up between KEBS, Kenya Pipeline Company and marketeers to address operational challenges from the higher flash point.
"Marketeers want clarity on the issue of diesel's flash point to make adequate arrangements to import refined fuel and conform to EAC's new specifications before January," senior petroleum company officials who asked not to be named, said.
If KEBS takes up review of the flash point specification, it will be shared and discussed as a regional specification among the EAC member states as member countries share an oil products pipeline system from Kenya.
The multi-product pipeline from Kenya's Mombasa port through Nairobi to Kisumu and Eldoret in western Kenya handles fuel for local consumption as well as export to Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.
Kenya and fellow EAC member state Tanzania are large importers of gasoil and gasoline. On average, Kenya and Tanzania import around 150,000 mt of gasoil and 100,000 mt of gasoline each month.
