Kathmandu, October 25

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has not adjusted the price of petroleum products since almost four months though the enterprise has been booking a profit of more than Rs 160 million per month.

As per the mandate of the automatic pricing mechanism that was introduced on September 29, 2014, NOC is required to adjust the price of petroleum products every fortnight. However, the state-owned enterprise has not revised fuel price since July 2.

NOC has been booking profit on petrol, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as per the fuel rate sent by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on October 1. While the corporation is

making a profit of Rs 4.13 on every litre of petrol, it is also booking profit of Rs 16.24 on every litre of kerosene and Rs 19.54 on every litre of ATF. While NOC is making a profit to this extent on the sale of aforementioned petroleum products, consumers are obliged to pay higher price for fuel.

NOC had last adjusted fuel price on July 2 by reducing the price of petrol, kerosene and diesel by two rupees per litre each. Currently, petrol costs Rs 98 per litre while diesel and kerosene are available at Rs 74 a litre each.

Meanwhile, NOC officials have said that fuel price was not adjusted in the past few months as there was no significant change in the rate list of petroleum products sent by IOC during the period. “International fuel price did not change significantly in the past few months. Similarly, NOC did not give priority to adjust fuel price during the festive season as new adjustment in fuel price during festive mood would affect consumers,” said Nagendra Jha, spokesperson for NOC.

However, NOC will likely adjust price of petroleum products after IOC sends a revised rate of fuel on November 1.

Meanwhile, NOC has also failed to implement the long-discussed auto pricing mechanism in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In 2014, the government had adopted auto pricing system only for petrol, diesel and kerosene.

As per IOC’s rate of October 1, NOC has been bearing a loss of Rs 82 on every cylinder of LPG. A cylinder of LPG is currently available at Rs 1,325.