Motorists may have to experience queuing for fuel once again as petroleum dealers have decided to go on strike by not buying fuel from Nepal Oil Corporation beginning Thursday. They are trying to force through their demands for a hike in compensation for shrinkage loss as the current rate offered by NOC is inadequate.

Petroleum dealers have time after time, caused inconvenience to motorists in the name of exerting pressure on NOC to fulfill their demands. This is the third time they have resorted to this measure since they raised the issue of inadequate compensation for shrinkage loss.

Shrinkage loss refers to gasoline lost due to shrinkage and evaporation. As per NOC, shrinkage loss occurs in fuel shipments when they are transported from locations with a high temperature to cooler places. 

According to the operators of gasoline stations, NOC has been compensating petroleum dealers for shrinkage loss at the rate of 8.75 litres per 1,000 litres of petrol. In the case of diesel, NOC regulation has considered an evaporation loss of 2.6 litres per 1,000 litres.

Fuel sellers, however, have been demanding NOC to raise the compensation level. According to them, the problem of shrinkage loss got worse after NOC started importing Euro IV standard gasoline from April. Based on the issue, the petroleum dealers have been demanding NOC to increase the compensation at the rate of 56 litres per 1,000 litres of petrol.  Lilendra Prasad Pradhan, president of Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said they had come up with the demand based on the recently conducted study carried out by the joint team that included the representatives from NOC, Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, consumers’ right activists and petroleum sellers. 

“The study based on the samples of 20 different petrol pumps including Nepal Police operated Mahalaxmi Fuel Station at Basundhara, shows that the shrinkage loss has been more than 50 litres per 1,000 litres of petrol,” Pradhan said. 

In the protest programmes, the petroleum dealers from across the country will not be purchasing petrol from Thursday. “We will stop purchasing diesel from Sunday while from next Tuesday, we will stop selling the fuel if our demands are not addressed on time,” Pradhan said. 

The Essential Goods Protection Act 1955 has considered petroleum products as an essential item. The act has barred fuel sellers from launching protests and disrupting supplies.

Meanwhile, NOC is holding its board meeting on Thursday in a view to address the concerns of the petroleum dealers. “The board meeting is likely to be considering the recent study report on shrinkage loss in order to prevent the possible short supply due the protests to be launched by the petroleum sellers,” an official at NOC said.