Rubis Just Overtook Total to Become the Second Biggest Oil Marketing Company in Kenya

Rubis surpassed TotalEnergies in market share in 2024, becoming the second-largest oil marketing company in Kenya. This marks the first time Rubis has claimed the number two spot since 2020, when it officially entered Kenya’s market as Rubis Energy Kenya, following the full acquisition of KenolKobil and Gulf Energy Holdings in 2019.

For several years, TotalEnergies held the second position behind Vivo Energy Kenya, the market leader since November 2012, when it took over the local downstream petroleum business from Shell.

By December 2023, it remained the second-largest oil marketing company, commanding a 14.88% market share compared to Vivo’s 22.07%. However, the latest Energy and Petroleum Statistics report for the year ending in June 2024 indicated a shift in rankings.

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The report by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) revealed that Rubis Energy Kenya had overtaken TotalEnergies, claiming the second spot after its market share rose to 15.56%, up from 14.05% at the close of the previous year.

Although TotalEnergies saw its market share grow slightly by 0.18% to 15.06%, and its sales of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and other fuels like diesel and jet fuel increased from 817,901.68m³ to 822,808.79m³, it was still displaced by Rubis.

“The HHI for the downstream petroleum subsector stood at 0.1079, a slight increase from the previous financial year’s figure of 0.1037, signifying increased dominance of the top three players controlling approximately 52% of the market,” EPRA noted. The Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) measures market concentration by squaring the market share of each firm and summing the totals.

EPRA emphasized, “The Authority continues to monitor competition within the sector to promote equity and fairness.”

Both Rubis and Total are based in France and rank among the world’s largest publicly traded petroleum and petrochemical enterprises.

However, TotalEnergies, which owns TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya PLC, is the fourth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company globally, operating in over 100 countries. Meanwhile, Rubis Energie, specializing in the downstream petroleum and chemicals sector and operating bulk liquid storage facilities for petroleum products and chemicals, has a presence in more than 40 countries across three continents, with 1,026 service stations in 23 countries.

Here is a roundup of the top 10 oil marketing companies in the country as per the recent statistics from EPRA:
Top 10 biggest oil marketing companies in Kenya – 2024:

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