LP Gas Distribution Disrupted

Sabika Shrestha

It has been over a month since the LP Gas shortage hit Nepal despite Nepal Oil Corporation claiming to have heightened import.

The government and Nepal Oil Corporation claim that they are importing 25 percent more LPG than before.

However, consumers are still forced to stand hours in line to get a single cylinder of cooking gas.

Consumers remain confused about what is happening.

To reduce the gas shortage, the government had previously been distributing only half-filled cylinders.

However, after it began distributing full cylinders from July, problems emerged.

Industrialists and sellers say the problem occurred because the amount of gas supplied to depots was reduced by around 67 percent, with the government stepping in to distribute the gas directly.

Bypassing the gas distribution depots has affected the whole supply chain according to gas distributors.

Gas depots say that since July, industries have been sending only 33 percent of the gas to them, and that government intervention has caused the problem.

The monthly demand for LPG in Nepali market stands at around 42,000 to 45,000 metric tonnes.

In July alone, 57,000 metric tonnes of LPG was imported.

Nepal Oil Corporation, however, claims that the current problem will be resolved within a few days.

Under normal circumstances, Nepal has a daily demand for around 100,000 LPG cylinders.

But currently, the daily demand across the country has risen to 127,000 cylinders.

With effective oversight still lacking, consumers remain the ones paying the price, facing higher costs, inflation, uncertainty, and unnecessary hardship just to fulfill their basic needs.