NOC losses drop, consumers do not get respite

Due to a huge drop in international crude price, the state oil monopoly has reduced the losses it had projected to incur. Crude was traded at $87 a barrel today in Asia.
In the current month, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said that it is expected to lose Rs 67.2 million only, according to the new rate card from its sole supplier — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). The rate card is forwarded by IOC every fortnight — on the first and 16th of each month of the Gregorian calendar.
The April 16 rate of IOC has made us more comfortable as the projected loss of the month is going to be lower than the last few years, according to a source at NOC.
NOC will earn Rs 9.42 in a litre of petrol, Rs 1.39 in a litre of diesel, Rs 13.78 per litre of kerosene, Rs 24.96 per litre of ATF (duty paid-domestic) and Rs 29.69 per litre in ATF (bonded-international), but it will incur a loss of Rs 504.02 per cylinder of cooking gas, according to the April 16 rate.
The domestic market consumes 18,000 kilo litres (kl) of petrol, 68,000 kl of diesel, 3,000 kl of kerosene, some 3,000 kl ATF (domestic), 7,000 kl of ATF (international) and 1.3 million cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in a month, NOC has projected.
According to the new rate, NOC will make a profit of Rs 161.5 million from petrol, and Rs 14.4 million from diesel, Rs 41.2 million from kerosene, Rs 74.1 million from ATF (domestic) and Rs 207.7 million from ATF (international), whereas in LPG it will incur a loss of Rs 654 million in a month.
However, the technically bankrupt oil monopoly marred in red tape and mismanagement has been unable to maintain smooth supply despite it pocketing profits in most of the petroleum products.
Meanwhile, the country has imported petroleum products worth Rs 68.07 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. However, it has received Rs 51.01 billion from export, which is unable to pay for a single commodity also due to NOC's gross mismanagement, red tape and petroleum traders' — who are minting money at the cost of public — syndicate.