NOC curtails petrol supply

KATHMANDU, Sept 6: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has curtailed the supply of petrol in the market, citing a sharp drop in its stocks mainly due to reduced supply from India.



On Monday, the petroleum monopoly supplied just 212 KL of petrol inside Kathmandu Valley, or 30 percent less than normal demand for the fuel. [break]



Worse, the corporation has announced that it has enough petrol in stock to meet just two days´ demand and indicated that consumers could face a shortage for the next few days.



“The situation has surfaced as we have been receiving only around 1,800 kiloliters of fuel from Raxaul for the last two weeks, which is some 600 KL less than what we need to import from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to maintain normal supplies,” said an official at NOC.



He told myrepublica.com that the corporation relied heavily on its stocks to maintain normal supply during that period. “As a result, our petrol stocks at Thankot and Amlekhgunj have now dropped to a point where it can meet just two days´ demand,” he stated.



NOC chief Digambar Jha admitted the worsening supply situation and said the corporation currently has just around 458 KL of petrol at Amlekhgunj, its largest operation, and 850 KL at Thankot, the main distribution outlet for Kathmandu.



He refused to divulge any further detail. But knowledgeable sources attribute the situation to poor inventory management and import strategy.



“The problem surfaced because management, in anticipation of a drop in rates in September, cut imports during the last week of August. The intention was to buy more fuel in the new month,” said a source.



But the decision backfired as IOC, despite NOC´s increased order in September, continued to supply fuel at the lowered volume. According to the source, NOC´s step irked IOC, mainly because the former did not take delivery of the volume it ordered during the month.



Despite lowered supply, officials said consumers will not face any problem of availability on Monday. They, however, indicated that the supply may be hit on Tuesday and Wednesday.



To end the looming crisis, the corporation on Monday sent a delegation led by Deputy Managing Director Bachchu Kafle to Raxaul to talk to IOC officials and get more fuel.



“The talks will start on Tuesday and we expect normal imports to begin from Wednesday,” said the source.



Sources at Amlekhgunj depot, meanwhile, tagged the looming shortage ´management created´ and aimed at reopening imports from IOC´s Barauni refinery.



Officially, NOC has stopped importing petroleum products from Barauni as imports from there mean higher technical loss. But the decision taken under pressure from NOC trade unions and staff at Amlekhgunj depot has hit some 450 tanker operators that NOC inducted for the Amlekhgunj-Barauni route.

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