MORANG, JULY 15: Although there is a lot of potential for petroleum reservoirs in Nepal, the reservoirs have become useless due to uncertainty. Nepal, which is dependent on the import of petroleum products, has 10 oil fields.
Since 2019, with the financial and technical support of the Chinese government, detailed exploration of petroleum products has been carried out in Dailekh. However, the government has not been able to conduct in-depth research and study in any of the places.
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The condition of the oil field in Ward No. 8 Bahuni of Belbari Municipality of Morang is similar. The oil field is getting dilapidated due to the lack of interest from the government. The buildings constructed for exploration have become ruins and the raw materials brought for exploration have expired. A local Kul Bahadar Bhandari says that the government has not been able to do any other work except for visiting the place from time to time.
He said that if the government works with full interest, it will not have to face the current situation for petrol. Yam Prasad Timsina, a local, complains that although the petroleum reservoir was explored by a private foreign company in 2045 BS, the government has not been able to continue petroleum exploration in Bahuni of Morang.
He said that the company spent six months studying the land by digging up to three and a half kilometers. He said that the government has not done any work in the area even after 34/35 years. He said that there is a complaint that India has put pressure not to explore the petroleum reservoir. He said that if the oil field in Nepal is operated, India's reservoir will dry up.
In 2045, a Chinese company came and completed the research and handed it over to the Nepal government, said Kapil Mani Regmi, the caretaker. He says that now the area around the oil field is limited to cattle grazing. Due to the negligence of the government, the place has now turned into a forest.
The main problem of the government is that although there are petroleum reservoirs in the country, the government hasn’t been able to benefit in any way from those reservoirs. The Department of Mines and Geology has purchased 4,969 square meters of land belonging to a person in Belbari-8, Bahuni.
