Petro trade deal with China during Oli's Visit

Minister for Supplies Ganesh Man Pun Wednesday said that Nepal will sign commercial petroleum trade agreement with China during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to the northern neighbour which is likely to happen in mid-March.

At an interaction with business journalists at Singh Durbar, Minister Pun said, “Chances are high that the agreement will be signed during the visit of the Prime Minister. We are making arrangements for that.”

He assured that if any technical glitches hindered the signing, the deal would be struck  immediately thereafter.

“The government is serious about diversifying the trade and managing alternative supply channels for the fuel and other essential commodities,” he said.

Nepal signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Petro China, Chinese government owned petroleum company, for petroleum trade on 28^th October last year ending four decade monopoly of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Minister Pun visited China and had extensive discussions with the Chinese authorities, and multiple teams visited the northern neighbour thereafter. However, issues of local tax, high mountains and difficult terrain obstructed the timely deal for the petroleum trade between the two countries.

As per the MoU signed with Petro China, Nepal would import 33 per cent of its total fuel from China.

Nepal went to China seeking alternative fuel supply channel after India imposed undeclared blockade at Indo-Nepal border showing its clear support to the agitating Terai based parties that were obstructing the border points at the southern border.

Minister Pun expressed his concerns towards the long queues of vehicles at the petrol pumps.

Saying he was aware that the consumers were still burning under the fuel-crisis, he unveiled his 3-point strategy to address the problem – filling and dispatching tankers from Thankot depot at the earliest in the morning, making the fuel distribution more transparent and enhancing consumer awareness.