Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has started regular imports of petrol and kerosene through the Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline, which previously transported only diesel. This marks a major step in streamlining Nepal’s fuel supply.

"The pipeline has begun transporting petrol, diesel, and kerosene since the last few days," said Pralayankar Acharya, chief of NOC’s Madhes Provincial Office. "We have officially started distributing petrol imported through the pipeline to depots in major cities across Nepal."

To support the expanded imports, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) constructed two petrol storage tanks with a capacity of 4,100 kiloliters each, two transmix tanks with a capacity of 250 kiloliters, 24 fully automatic loading way-refillers, a pump house, and a laboratory at the Amlekhgunj depot. The project also upgraded the firefighting system, installed an oil-water separator (OWS), and built a PMCC chamber. Likhita Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. handled the construction, which faced delays despite an initial completion target of 2023.

IOC also added two transmix tanks to store both petrol and diesel, along with a 3,000-kiloliter firewater tank for safety. The pipeline first became operational on September 11, 2019, enabling diesel imports. However, due to limited storage capacity, petrol and kerosene continued to be transported by tanker until now.

"With the project now complete, we have started regular pipeline imports of all three fuels—petrol, diesel, and kerosene," Acharya said. He emphasized that using the pipeline will eliminate technical losses, reduce transportation costs, and minimize environmental pollution.

Following the expansion, the Amlekhgunj depot's storage capacity has increased to 24,840 kiloliters for diesel and 16,630 kiloliters for petrol. -- RSS