Kathmandu, November 20:

The shortage of petroleum products is likely to continue soon after the state-run oil monopoly — the Nepal Oil Corporation — started incurring losses again following a rise in international crude oil prices.

Bachchu Kafle, Deputy Managing Director of the NOC, said the Corporation was trying to obtain loans from commercial banks to maintain adequate supply of petroleum products by paying the dues to the Indian Oil Corporation. The NOC has Rs Rs 2.61 billion dues to the IOC.

But the NOC is unlikely to get any significant amount of loan as it already has outstanding dues of Rs 6.94 billion to be paid to the banks.

Currently, the NOC has been managing to supply only the half of the demand for petroleum products in the Kathmandu Valley. It has only 250,000 litres of petrol in stock, that will finish within a days.

The Nepal Oil Corporation had raised petroleum prices in the local market in the beginning of November, when the petrol price in international market was $83 a barrel. But the Corporation started incurring losses after the price in international market soared up to $95 a barrel.