Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the government-run gasoline distribution monopoly, has raised fuel rates for the second time in eight days.
The firm has recently been hiking fuel prices every two weeks. The corporation did not wait a fortnight to make another choice this time, as the last decision to raise the price was delayed by local elections.
The following adjustments to the new pricing have been made, according to the corporation’s announcement on Sunday evening:
After going beyond £1.60 for the first time last week, the average price of a litre of gasoline topped £1.63 on Sunday.
Although diesel prices remained over £1.73 per litre, the AA predicted that “wild” pump prices will level down unless global oil prices rose again.
However, MPs were cautioned that this was only the “calm before the storm” of additional price increases.
Consumers “need to prepare ready for what might be sustained rises in petrol costs,” according to Nathan Piper, director of oil and gas research at financial services firm Investec.
According to Dr. Amrita Sen, head of research at Energy Aspects, fuel prices might jump to roughly £2.40 per litre. Diesel costs of “£2.50 Or even closer to £3” were “certainly within the realms of possibilities,” he added.
Gas costs have been steadily rising. In the Kathmandu Valley, fuel has increased by Rs25 per litre in the last year, rising from Rs96 to Rs121 per litre. Diesel and kerosene are now priced at Rs104 per litre, up from Rs93 per litre a year earlier.
Despite the higher cash collected on each sale, Nepal Oil Corporation claims that its monthly anticipated loss remains at Rs1.4 billion.
In the fiscal year that concluded in mid-July, Nepal imported Rs164 billion worth of petroleum products. Consumers are frustrated by the constant rise in fuel costs, with many questioning what is causing the prices to soar so dramatically.
Everything you need to know about gasoline pricing in Nepal may be found here.
Price trends in gasoline.
Except for the surge in prices to stratospheric heights during the Indian trade blockade in 2015, Nepal Oil Corporation raised the price of petrol to Rs140 per litre and diesel to Rs109 per litre in March 2014, the highest-ever price hike in Nepal.
Load-shedding was beginning in Nepal at the time, and development operations had just recently begun to take up after the government reached a comprehensive peace agreement with the Maoists in 2006.
From there, global crude oil prices began to plummet, reaching one of the lowest levels in history. The 2008 financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession triggered an oil and gas bear market, with the price of a barrel of crude oil plummeting from approximately $148.93 to $35 in only a few months.
However, it began to build up again and crossed the $100 per barrel milestone. Load-shedding hours were at an all-time high, hitting 84 hours per week in Nepal. The power outages resulted in a surge in oil consumption. There were some
