Nepal continues to suffer from fuel scarcity

The scarcity of petroleum products in Kathmandu, Nepal, which started last year, continued throughout the month of April. Almost all of the fuel stations in the city had “no petrol” notices, whereas long queues were seen at some fuel stations. State-owned Nepal Oil Corp. (NOC) tried to alleviate the crisis by bringing fuel to the country—tankers were sent to Raxual on the border between Nepal and India to bring 600 kiloliters (kl) of petrol and 400 kl of diesel to the country, which could barely sustain Kathmandu’s daily demand of 250 kl of petrol and 400 kl of diesel. Nepal’s fuel supply problems materialized after Indian Oil Corp., the country’s main source of fuel, cut supplies by more than half in July last year due to NOC’s non-payment of outstanding bills. (July 12, 2008/ April 27, 2009)