Nairobi, April 23 -- The outlook for local oil prices had turned increasingly precarious. Kenya's ambitious government-to-government (G-to-G) oil credit scheme recently faced a major threat after Gulf suppliers moved to invoke "Material Adverse Change" clauses.

These clauses allow for a renegotiation of terms upward when unforeseen circumstances-in this case, the escalating Middle East crisis-disrupt the status quo.

On April 1, Saudi Aramco formally notified the Kenyan government that it intended to seek an upward price review for the period between May and August. The supplier cited regional instability as the primary driver for the shift, potentially undoing the price stability the G-to-G arrangement was designed to provide

Beyond ge...