Nairobi, Kenya-based KenolKobil and British Petroleum are locked in a battle over the distribution rights of Castrol lubricants in the Kenyan market.

BP announced on May 15, 2013 that it was seeking distributors to supply the Kenyan market with its branded lubricants including Castrol, returning to the Kenya market it exited in 2007. KenolKobil says that it has the rights to supply the Castrol brand, obtaining such brand supply rights from initial owner of the brand, Burmah-Castrol of Scotland.

The Nairobi oil firm said in a statement that a court order, following a dispute between the two firms, granted Kenol the right to supply Castrol branded lubricants. “The court ordered that the status quo be kept and that Kobil continues to be the sole distributor of Castrol lubricants in the whole of East Africa,” said Jacob Segman, the chairman and group managing director of Kenolkobil in a letter to Mr Bob Dudley, the CEO of BP Plc..“In our view your action to seek the distributorship of Castrol products in Kenya is misplaced and clearly in contravention and breach of the arbitration award and court order,” said Segmanl in the May 21 letter to Dudley.

David Ohana, General Manager – KenolKobil, Kenya, said in a statement "We wish to confirm that KenolKobil remains the sole registered distributor of Castrol products in Kenya and the East Africa region as mandated by the Distributorship Agreement between the two parties. KenolKobil is also the registered user of Castrol products in Kenya. KenolKobil continues to successfully market the Castrol brand alongside its own Kenol and Kobil brand of lubricants. We were therefore surprised by BP’s action to advertise for distributors of Castrol Lubricants in Kenya without any notice to us and in contravention of the agreement and consequent court orders barring BP from breach of the said agreement. Consequently, we have issued a letter to BP Plc in London and South Africa, notifying them of the aforementioned breach and reserving our rights accordingly."

The KenolKobil Group consists of subsidiaries in nine African countries outside Kenya (Head Office) including; Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Congo DR.