National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) has entered into a distribution partnership with small independent oil marketers in a move expected to provide credibility to hundreds of unbranded fuel outlets.
The deal is will see the small marketers access products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene from NOCK, which they say will offer users greater assurance over the quality of products. The partnership will be expanded to include gas distribution at a later date, Nock said.
Eqwipetrol, owned by Capital Holdings, has already signed up 350 members (unbranded petrol station owners) in 11 counties.
NOCK chief executive Mary Jane Mwangi, Tuesday said the partnership will also help the state-owned oil marketer scale up its distribution network across the country.
Equity Bank #ticker:EQTY will provide the station owners with a fuel card through which they will manage their purchases from Nock.
“We will be able to support independent petroleum operators purchase products seamlessly and help us with the objective of reaching Wanjiku at the grassroots in all parts of the country,” said Ms Mwangi.
The outlets will also be subjected to continuous quality assessment, a step towards formalising the small sellers.
Eqwipetrol chief executive Shiru Mwangi said they are targeting the remaining 850 independent and unbranded fuel stations across the country. She did not, however, disclose how much in commission the firm is earning in the deal.
“Eqwipetrol as a company does and will not own a single station. We will restrict ourselves to managing the supply chain, invest in innovation and technology,” said Ms Mwangi.