KATHMANDU: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said its sole supplier Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has assured regular supply of cooking gas from Monday. IOC has reduced the supply for the past week, citing technical problem at its Barauni-based depot. “IOC officials have said the problem has been fixed and that regular supply will resume from Monday,” said NOC Director Mukunda Ghimire.
OC’s Barauni depot supplies almost half (49 per cent) of the country’s demand for cooking gas. Of the total demand of 29,000 tonnes per month, the depot supplies 13,000 tonnes. IOC’s Haldiya depot supplies 11,000 tonnes, while the rest 5,000 tonnes are supplied by Mathura depot.
After India lifted the trade embargo in the first week of February, the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) had improved. IOC had been supplying up to 55 bullets a day from 15-20 bullets during the blockade. But the supply again dropped to 20 bullets a day (12 bullets from Haldiya and eight from Mathura) after technical problem emerged at the Barauni depot a week ago, Ghimire said.
Shiva Ghimire, president of LP Gas Industry Association said they were facing problems in meeting consumers’ demand. Chandra Ghimire, general secretary of Gas Dealers’ Federation Nepal, said 35 per cent of the consumers were yet to get cooking gas. He demanded the government increase LPG imports and make sure the gas is distributed only through certified distributors.
Meanwhile, NOC said IOC has been providing just 70 per cent Nepal’s other petroleum demand. IOC officials have been staying they have not yet received orders from above to increase the supply, NOC’s Ghimire said.
Last week, NOC removed the quota system, citing improved supply. But motorists are still struggling to refill their tanks. NOC’s Ghimire said they were diverting fuel from districts to the Valley to regularise supply in Kathmandu. Meanwhile, NOC Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka is currently in India, to talk to IOC officials on regularising fuel supply.
