Welcome Euro III fuel

The decision taken by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to introduce high quality petrol, dubbed 91-octane in the domestic market, in two weeks’ time is a welcome step. This new category of petrol, as claimed by NOC, is expected to give vehicle owners not only better mileage but also enable them to enjoy higher engine efficiency. With the supply of relatively inferior petrol, labeled as 87-octane, NOC has been forcing customers to bear an unnecessary financial burden, resulting mainly from wear and tear and reduction in engine life. 87-octane petrol, which is equivalent in standard to Euro II fuel, has long been phased out in many countries across the world. As a result, many world-class vehicle brands have been reluctant to introduce state-of-the-art engines here. With the entry of upgraded fuel, expectations are high that the Nepali vehicle market will soon overcome this drawback.



But in a corrupt and poorly regulated market like ours, where players along the chain from imports to sales miss no opportunity to cheat consumers, fingers can be pointed even toward the purity of upgraded petrol. With a wide gap in price between petrol and kerosene and the inability of market inspectors to stop the mixing of cheaper fuels in petrol, there exists ample room for wrongdoers to hijack the performance that high-octane fuel is expected deliver. We demand that such room must be denied and NOC, which has legal authority for doing so, must measure up to this responsibility. We urge NOC to make sure its retailers first use up their existing fuel stocks before starting to sell upgraded petrol. In addition, it must also clean up the mess in its quality control department and intensify market inspections so that no dealer dares to blend cheap kerosene into petrol and cheat consumers.



As underlined earlier, one of the prime duties of NOC is to ensure fuel quality. However, given the level of corruption at NOC, lately infamous for its leakage of oil worth millions, few consumers believe they will benefit from the additional payment of around Re 1 per liter for upgraded fuel. This is where petroleum sector reforms become so crucial. The government must immediately introduce reforms at NOC, separating its concurrent roles of oil supplier and supply regulator. We have often said that NOC can’t regulate the anomalies that it has itself created.



The government must move promptly to set up an independent and duly empowered petroleum authority to confront the anomalies and streamline NOC’s operations. Only then will consumers reap maximum benefit from the upgrade in oil quality.

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