A few days after the state-owned oil monopoly said imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or cooking gas, were normal, it has instructed bottling plants to sell half-filled cylinders to consumers.

The new provision will apply to both household and hotel and restaurant users, the corporation said, adding that the move is aimed at conserving energy even though imports have not been affected.

The board meeting of Nepal Oil Corporation on Thursday took the decision, repeating measures adopted during previous crises in 2015 and 2020, when the country suffered acute shortages of cooking gas.

The fuel monopoly said supplies from India remain normal, but panic buying has been increasing in the Kathmandu Valley.

Queues at cooking gas depots have been growing after local groceries were unable to supply the fuel across the valley, following rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, a key fuel-supplying region for global markets.

“Officials from the Industry Ministry and the corporation held discussions after consumer complaints increased about not getting cooking gas cylinders for weeks. The corporation has decided to sell 7.1 kg of cooking gas effective from Friday instead of the usual 14.2 kg,” said Manoj Kumar Thakur, deputy director of Nepal Oil Corporation.

A 7.1-kg cylinder of cooking gas will cost Rs955.

“The move is aimed at preventing hoarding of LPG cylinders,” Thakur said. As of March 10, the NOC had received 45,000 tonnes of LPG.

Nepal’s LPG demand currently stands at around 45,000–46,000 tonnes per month, and the NOC says a similar quantity has been arriving.

Among the country’s 6.66 million households, 51 percent use firewood while 44.3 percent rely on LPG for cooking.

Bagmati Province, which includes the Kathmandu Valley and has 1.56 million households, leads in LPG consumption, with 69.8 percent of families using it for cooking, according to the census report.