Nepali consumers will feel the pinch of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortage even more in the coming months as the demand for it goes up by nearly 25 percent during the winter season, The Himalayan Times daily reported on Wednesday.
The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has currently been importing only about 20 percent of the demand for LPG, which is in short supply ever since 2005, Gyaneshwor Aryal, president of the CentralGas Dealers' Association of Nepal has said.
According to the daily, though the NOC agreed in February 2005 to import 7,500 metric tons of LPG every month, it never met the target due to recurring loses partly from the subsidy in LPG.
The NOC agreed again in July 2007 to increase the import to about 8,500 metric tons a month, the import is much below the target, insiders in the LPG trade said.
Though the NOC raised petroleum prices on October 24 this year to smoothen the supply by reducing the losses attributed to subsidy, it said it is still providing 70 Nepali rupees (1.1 U.S. dollars) subsidy per cylinder on LPG.
In a recent statement, the NOC said its losses in gas have climbed to 148 rupees (2.3 dollars) per cylinder following a rise in the prices of crude petroleum products in the international market.
While many people attribute the shortage of petroleum products to the government's control in the import and supply of fuel, others say consumers will find fuel very expensive even if private sector is allowed to import and sell the petroleum products.
Source: Xinhua
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