Consumption of petroleum products has, of late, started decreasing even though the election activities are on rise in the country.
According to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), consumption of petroleum products in the current fiscal year has fallen compared to the last fiscal year.
Earlier, during the festivals and local level elections, an increase in the consumption of petroleum products was noticed, but the consumption has not increased even though the canvassing for the elections to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies is at its peak now, said Binitmani Upadhyay, spokesperson for the NCO.
He said that the consumption of petrol and diesel has decreased to a large extent in the month of Kartik this year compared to the same period last year.
According to the statistics of the NOC, about 51,496 kilolitres of petrol and 94,458 kilolitres of diesel have been consumed in the first 27 days of the month of Kartik this year, while in the corresponding period last year, 63,316 kiloliters of petrol and 135,813 kiloliters of diesel was consumed.
Although all public and private vehicles are running throughout the country during the election campaign, the consumption of petroleum products, especially diesel and petrol, has surprisingly been low this month compared to last year.
However, the consumption of petroleum products had increased in the local level election held in May this year. But fuel consumption could not increase despite the increasing election activities for the last one week.
Liquidity problems, halted development activities like the construction works and the increased oil prices led to the reduction in fuel consumption, he said.
The increase in oil prices in the Nepali market compared to their prices in India is also the reason for the fall in fuel consumption in Nepal, he added.
The Corporation argues that when the tanker drivers started filling up oil in India as the fuel price is lower in India than in Nepal, the consumption fell in the border area.
He said that when the price of fuel in Nepal was lower than in India, the trucks entering Nepal from India used to fill up fuel in Nepal, but the trend has now been reversed, he said.
The price of diesel and kerosene in Nepal is now dearer by Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 per litre in Nepal than in India.
Upadhyay expressed hope that the consumption of fuel would increase after the elections as the construction work is expected to take a pace after the election.
NOC increases fuel stock
The NOC has started stocking petroleum products in all depots for the November 20 elections.
Even though the consumption of fuel has dropped significantly, the Corporation has stated that it will stock adequate fuel to avoid shortage of petroleum products during the election period.
“As import of fuel will be halted for a few days as the border will remain sealed for three days for the elections, we are now stocking fuel in all the depots,” said Upadhyay.
Petroleum products are currently being imported daily. It is also being supplied from the Raxaul-Amalekhgunj pipeline.
“As the border will be closed for 72 hours before the election, we have started stocking fuel now,” he said.
However, discussion is underway to allow the fuel tankers to enter on other days except for the day of election, he informed.
According to him, the corporation now has 75 per cent stock of petroleum products of its total capacity.
Source : TRN,
