Chinese petrol likely to arrive by next week

Kathmandu, October 28

It seems it will take a few more days to bring the petrol China has given to Nepal as grant.

The Embassy of China in Kathmandu, in a letter to Nepal Oil Corporation today, said it will take three days to freight gasoline from Lhasa to Kyirong.

NOC has been asked to make necessary preparations to receive the fuel. Nepali tankers will receive the load from Kyirong, 28km from Rasuwagadhi.

NOC said it will send tankers only after Chinese tankers arrive at Kyirong. “We have completed all the procedures such as getting entry permit for tankers, insurance of tankers, drivers and helpers, to bring fuel from Kyirong,” said Deepak Baral, NOC spokesperson.

The NOC team is also planning to go to Kyirong to receive the fuel that the Chinese government is providing as grant assistance to fuel-strapped Nepal, which has been taken as a goodwill gesture of its giant northern neighbour. A few days back China pledged to provide 1,000 tonnes (about 1.3 million litres) of petrol as grant assistance to Nepal.

According to Baral, they can dispatch tankers to Kyirong within 12 hours once they receive notice from the Chinese side. Bagmati Petroleum Transporters’ Association has arranged tankers to be sent to Kyirong. “We have managed 115 tankers with 12-kilolitre capacity each to be sent to Kyirong to receive the fuel,” said Basu Dahal, president of the Association.

NOC is currently using 12 kl and 20 kl tankers to ferry fuel. Despite the acute shortage, the association is sending the 12 kl tankers considering the condition of the road to Kyirong, according to Dahal.

NOC presumes that a maximum of 25 tankers can be loaded in one day because of lack of terminal loading. Hence, it will be tanker-to-tanker loading. Baral believes Nepali tankers will enter the country with fuel by the end of this week.