In a desperate move to ease acute crisis of fuel facing the country, the government is seeking 20,000 kilolitre (KL) of fuel from Saudi Arabia. The government decision to request the Arab state to provide petroleum products comes after a month Nepal imported 1,333 KL petrol, also in grant assistance, from China.

Following a minister-level decision on December 2, the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) on Monday forwarded a “proposal letter” to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging it to deliver it to the Saudi government. The MoCS has cc’ed the letter to the Ministry of Finance.

The government wants to import 10,000 KL each of petrol and diesel from Saudi Arabia.  “We took the initiative to explore possibilities of importing fuel from the Middle East as part of our efforts to diversify petroleum trade,” said Shambhu Ghimire, Spokesperson for the MoCS. “The government has also requested the Saudi government to ship the fuel,” he added.

The government’s move to request Saudi Arabia to provide fuel in grant comes at a time when there has been a delay in signing of a commercial deal with China to import petroleum products from the northern neighbour.

The government had signed a framework agreement with China on October 28, following which Nepal received 1,333 KL petrol in November.

While there has been no progress regarding signing of a commercial deal with China—due to some tax related issues and lack of political commitment from the Nepali side—the government has sought additional 11,000 tonnes of fuel (6,000 tonnes of diesel, petrol and aviation fuel, and 5,000 tonnes of cooking gas) from the northern neighbour, again in grant, “to ease fuel crisis in the country”.

Minister for Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Man Pun at a meeting of the parliamentary committee of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare also reiterated that the government “was giving priority to importing fuel in grant as the commercial deal has been delayed”.

However, Nepal Oil Corporation officials have said that they are not very optimistic about importing fuel from China.

“Despite having a number of practical difficulties, the government has not sent even a minister level team to sign a commercial deal with China,” said a source at the state oil monopoly.