Business

Petrol, diesel, kerosene gets cheaper by Rs 1.5 per litre

Petrol, diesel, kerosene gets cheaper by Rs 1.5 per litre

By Sujan Dhungana

A petrol pump attendant (L) puts petrol priced at Rs 99 per litre into a car at a Sajha Petrol gas station in Kathmandu, Nepal, January 27, 2016. A dramatic drop in oil prices, driven down by a glut in supply, is translating into a mixed bag for motorists. All countries have access to the same oil prices on international markets, but retail prices vary wildly, largely because of taxes and subsidies. Reuters

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has finally slashed price of petroleum products —almost six months after the last revision, which was made on December 19. Sitaram Pokharel, spokesperson for NOC, informed that prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene have been cut by Rs 1.5 per litre each effective from Saturday. After the adjustment in price, petrol will cost Rs 100 per litre while diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 76 per litre each in the domestic market. Citing an increment in global oil price, NOC had increased price of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs 4.5 per litre each in December. However, NOC had been reluctant to slash fuel price in the recent months despite drop in global oil price. In the last six months, NOC had only increased price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) twice. LPG price was hiked by Rs 25 per cylinder on February 2 and by the same amount on March 11. Currently, one LPG cylinder costs Rs 1,375. NOC has, however, not changed the price of LPG this time around, according to Pokharel. With the fresh revision in fuel price, NOC’s projected monthly profit has reached Rs 760 million, against monthly profit of Rs 605.60 million in May. NOC is still booking profit of Rs 7.66 per litre in petrol, Rs 2.47 per litre in diesel, Rs 16.75 per litre in kerosene and Rs 9.08 per litre in aviation turbine fuel. However, NOC is incurring loss of Rs 93.62 per cylinder in LPG.