K-Gas is, without any doubt, the most popular cooking gas brand in Kenya.
Thanks to its high-quality well-maintained gas cylinders and goodwill, it has withstood stiff competition from other brands for many years.
The gas cylinders are available to retail customers in 6Kg, 13Kg, 35Kg and 50Kg.
Have you ever wondered what “K-Gas” stands for?
Well, it stands for Kenol-Kobil Gas! The cooking gas brand initially belonged to Kenol-Kobil Kenya PLC, an oil and petroleum distribution company.
Kenol-Kobil PLC was the first oil marketing corporation listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
Kenol-Kobil was acquired by Rubis Energy Kenya, a subsidiary of Rubis Energie SAS, alongside Gulf Energy in 2019 after approval of a take-over deal by Kenol-Kobil PLC shareholders.
So, Rubis Energy Kenya is now the oil company that stocks and distributes K-Gas in Kenya and has a good supply chain network nationwide.
The entry of Rubis in the Kenyan oil and gas distribution market was like a storm as the company acquired assets of other oil and gas companies, including K-Gas, and now it controls a sizeable market share of at least 9%.
With that level of market control, Rubis is among Kenya’s top three oil and gas marketing companies.
That means the K-Gas brand’s future is even much brighter.
Since K-Gas retails under the Rubis Kenya banner, it means the CEO of Rubis is the chief decision-maker with regard to the cooking gas brand.
The current CEO and Managing Director of Rubis Kenya is Jean Christian Bergeron, a French expatriate.
He served as Total Kenya CEO before taking over the same role at Rubis. He has served as Rubis CEO for four years.
Jean was deported by the Kenyan government in 2022 in the midst of the fuel crisis that rocked the country, with Rubis being accused of being one of the oil marketing companies that was hoarding fuel, thus creating an artificial shortage.
He later jetted back into the country and resumed his role as Rubis Kenya CEO.
There has been speculation that the Kenyatta family is among the shareholders of Rubis Kenya, but there is no evidence to prove that the allegations are true.
The major shareholders of Rubis Group happen to be other international companies such as BlackRock Inc. ( 5.86%) and Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault ( 5.72%) and free float shareholders who control a whopping 84% of the shareholding.
Rubis Kenya subsidiary is wholly owned by Rubis Energie, a France-based international company specialising in storing and distributing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), oil and related products. This means Rubis Energie owns all assets of Rubis Kenya, including the cooking gas brand of K-Gas.
In sum, there is no evidence that there are Kenyan individuals who own shares in Rubis Energy Kenya.
However, this might change in future in case the subsidiary opens up an initial public offer (IPO) for local investors to buy shares and start trading at the Nairobi Stock exchange.
It is also important to note that KenolKobil was delisted from the stock exchange after its acquisition by Rubis.
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