NOC Rolls Back Price Hike of Petroleum Products

November 2: An emergency board meeting of Nepal Oil Corporation on Thursday decided to roll back the price hike of petroleum products which it had announced overnight on November 1.

According to informed sources, the state-owned oil monopoly decided to revoke its decision to hike fuel prices upon the instructions of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who expressed his annoyance saying that the decision could impact the election results.

NOC had earlier decided to hike the prices effective from Wednesday midnight. As per the instructions of PM Deuba, Minister for Supplies Jayant Chand instructed NOC to withdraw the price hike. NOC said that the petroleum products will now be available at the same old rates.  

NOC said it hiked the prices on November 1 to adjust with the price hike of crude oil in the international market. NOC had increased Rs 2 per litre on petrol, diesel and kerosene while it had raised the price of cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 25. According to NOC, the prime minister’s instruction to withdraw price hike will cause a loss of Rs 220 million.