Citing its outstanding dues to the government and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has refused to slash the prices of petroleum products.
Issuing a press release on Thursday, the state-owned oil monopoly NOC has declined to slash the fuel prices despite making modest profits from the sale of petroleum products for the last one month. According to the NOC, it owes a total of Rs 29.11 billion to the government and the IOC.
Despite making profits from the sale of petroleum products, the NOC in its notice has maintained that it still faces a challenge to maintain uninterrupted supply of fuel.
NOC has recently received revised price lists from the IOC– the sole supplier of petroleum products to the NOC. According to the NOC, petrol is dearer by 61 paisa per liter, while the price of diesel has increased Rs 5.76 per liter, kerosene by Rs 4.01 per liter and aviation fuel by Rs 4.77 per liter.
At the new price rates, NOC faces a loss of Rs 228.84 per cylinder in cooking gas and Rs 12.14 per liter in diesel. NOC is projected to earn profits of Rs 180 million in the next 15 days.
