KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 27

An agreement has been signed with Kathmandu University (KU) to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the construction of Nepal Oil Corporation's (NOC) Lumbini Regional Storage Facility in Omsatiya and Rohini rural municipalities of Rupandehi.

At a program held today, Pradeep Yadav, Deputy Director of the Corporation and Head of the Storage Capacity Expansion Project, and Bibek Baral, Head of Kathmandu University's Consultancy Department, signed the agreement.

According to the agreement, KU will complete the DPR within six months. Deputy Director Yadav stated that construction of the depot would commence as soon as the DPR is finalized, with plans to relocate the existing Bhalbari depot by November 2025.

Previously, the NOC had signed an agreement with Pulchowk Engineering Campus to prepare a DPR for relocating the aviation fuel depot currently situated within the Tribhuvan International Airport complex in Kathmandu.

The existing Lumbini regional office occupies approximately 5.5 bighas of land along the Bhairahawa-Butwal main highway. Its storage includes tanks with capacities of 519 kiloliters of petrol, 3,000 kiloliters of diesel, and 140 kiloliters of kerosene. However, the corporation has acknowledged that this capacity is insufficient to meet rising consumption demands. Currently, the storage can only cover two days of petrol and five days of diesel consumption.

The NOC operates fuel storage depots in Biratnagar, Dhanusha, Birgunj, Amlekhgunj, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, and Dhangadhi.

Its total storage capacity stands at 60,384 kiloliters. As Nepal relies entirely on imports for petroleum products, the NOC procures fuel from India's state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).