Banking News – Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said that the supply of cooking gas in the market is gradually becoming smoother and urged consumers not to stockpile unnecessary LPG cylinders. The corporation said that supplies to the Kathmandu Valley are currently exceeding average daily demand and that the situation is expected to return to normal within a few days.

“The average daily demand in the Kathmandu Valley is around 35,000 to 37,000 cylinders, but we are currently supplying an additional 5,000 to 8,000 cylinders on average,” said NOC Director Binit Mani Upadhyay.

According to the corporation, 22 LPG gas companies in the Kathmandu Valley are selling 47,388 cylinders today, Bhadra 2. On Bhadra 1, a total of 52,576 cylinders were sold in the Valley, around 15,000 more than the daily average.

NOC said that a total of 309,553 cylinders were sold from Shrawan 27 to the evening of Bhadra 2, averaging more than 44,000 cylinders per day.

Industry representatives said the current gas situation is not due to a shortage in supply. They said LPG imports had declined in Falgun due to external factors, prompting the government to introduce the sale of partially filled cylinders to address the shortage. The effects of that situation are being felt now, but the issue is not expected to persist for long.

Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, president of the LPG Gas Industry Association Nepal, said the situation has improved significantly since gas started being sold through dealers from Monday. He said the remaining issues are expected to be resolved within a week.

More Than 4 Million Cylinders Sold in Shrawan

According to NOC, around 110,000 LPG cylinders are normally sold across the country each day. However, in Shrawan of the current fiscal year alone, 57,316 metric tons of LPG, equivalent to 4,036,364 cylinders, were sold.

This was around 29.3 percent higher than the sales recorded in Shrawan of FY 2082/83, when 44,318 metric tons of LPG, equivalent to 3,120,986 cylinders, were sold. Similarly, in Shrawan of FY 2081/82, 45,735 metric tons, equivalent to 3,220,775 cylinders, were sold.

LPG Sales and Imports from Chaitra to Asar

According to NOC, 38,800 metric tons of LPG were imported in Chaitra last fiscal year, during which various industries sold 5,464,789 partially filled cylinders. In Chaitra 2081, 48,327 metric tons of LPG were imported, while 3,403,310 fully filled cylinders were sold.

Similarly, 32,056 metric tons of LPG were imported in Baisakh this year, compared with 46,503 metric tons in Baisakh last year. In Jestha, LPG imports stood at 33,842 metric tons, compared with 49,816 metric tons in the same month last year.

In Asar, 44,544 metric tons of LPG were imported, compared with 47,933 metric tons in Asar of the previous year.