Such a situation prevailed despite the fact Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) last week promised of normalizing supply within a week.[break]
“On Saturday, majority of pumps remained shut tagging no petrol no diesel. So after visiting number of stations, when I found a station that was distributing fuel, I had to queue up for half hour to get the fuel,” said Mukesh Sharma of mid-Baneshwor.
Though queues at petrol pumps have shortened over the past two weeks, complete restoration of normal supply of petrol was some days away in the Kathmandu Valley. NOC officials attributed the situation to frequent banda, as that affected distribution of fuel.
“Queues would have completely disappeared had we been able to regularly distribute the fuel for three to four days. But as back to back banda affected distribution, we are still seeing queues at pumps,” said NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel.
If his statement is anything to go by, consumers might continue to face queues at petrol pumps till the constitution drafting process comes to an end, as various groups have announced banda to add weight to their diverse aspirations on state restructuring over the coming week as well.
Though banda affected local distribution, NOC said it was receiving fuel from India. “There was no problem in the import. Though Birgunj remained closed over the past seven days, the banda organizers have allowed vehicles to ply after 5 pm. So, our tankers are ferrying fuel in the evening and later hours,” said Dhungel.
NOC has also continued to dispatch the import to Thankot depot, which is the mainly supply outlet for the Valley, even though fuel distribution in the market remained erratic.
“There is no problem with the stock and import. We are well in position to end the scarcity,” said Dhungel.
NOC to get govt loans next week
Moreover, the government has completed formalities to provide Rs 500 million in loans to the NOC, as decided in the recent cabinet meeting. “Hopefully we will receive the money on Monday and send it immediately to settle dues of Indian Oil Corporation,” said Dhungel. The corporation has about Rs 3 billion in outstanding dues to settle with the IOC.
Likewise, the corporation has also requested Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Citizens Investment Trust (CIT), which have been asked by the government lend out Rs 600 million and Rs 1 billion respectively to the NOC, to speed up their processes for the earliest release of fund.
Once those loans are received, NOC officials said they will be able to maintain normal supply for the next one month. However, they argued the government must adjust petroleum prices in line with the international trend to ensure normal supply in the long term.
With the government consistently avoiding price hike of diesel and liquefied petroleum gas, the corporation is presently incurring a loss of Rs 1.1 billion a month.
Latest export rates to Nepal issued by IOC on May 16 shows that the corporation is presently suffering a loss of Rs 10.31 on a liter of diesel and Rs 598 per cylinder (14.2 kg) of LPG.
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