Gas dealers urge govt to increase LPG supply

The Gas Dealer Federation, Nepal (GDFN) on Monday urged the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) to increase the supply of LPG following a cut in deliveries by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

“Gas has been in short supply since the last one and a half months, and a crisis is likely to hit the upcoming festival season,” said the GDFN in a press statement.

The federation has urged the MoCS to improve the supply of LPG within 10 days. According to the GDFN, NOC has reduced distribution of LPG and accused the state-owned oil monopoly of issuing stocks only to bottlers close to its top officials. “The government should distribute LPG to all the bottlers equally,” said GDFN.

NOC had slashed LPG imports to 12,000 tons per month in the first week of July while the monthly requirement stands at 15,000 tons. The reduction in imports, according to NOC, is due to repair and maintenance work at the Barauni refinery of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Nepal’ sole supplier of LPG. “We were compelled to cut imports as repair and maintenance is being carried out at IOC’s refinery in Barauni,” said NOC spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel.

According to Dhungel, NOC has been importing 500 tons of LPG daily from Haldiya and Mathura to maintain the supply. However, it hasn’t eased the shortage in the local market. Shipments of LPG from Haldiya and Mathura take at least five-six days to arrive because of the longer distances involved. Dhungel said he was hopeful that supplies would be normalised once the Barauni depot resumes operations.

Amid fears of a possible shortage during the festive season, NOC has pledged to import adequate petroleum products. “There is no need to worry about LPG including other petroleum products during the festivals as NOC has requested the government to arrange funds to import adequate amounts,” said Dhungel.

As consumption increases during the festival season, NOC has sought a loan of Rs 1.50 billion from the government to maintain smooth supplies.

It has written to the MoCS to arrange funds to ensure adequate stocks of

fuel, particularly cooking gas, during the festivals.

The parliamentary Finance and Labour Relations Committee on July 31 had directed the government to maintain sufficient stocks of essential goods to ensure regular supplies and check artificial price hikes during the festival period.