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NOC awards contract to expand Thankot depot
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has expedited the project to expand its fuel storage capacity by selecting an Indian company to construct a storage unit at Thankot.Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has expedited the project to expand its fuel storage capacity by selecting an Indian company to construct a storage unit at Thankot.
The state-owned oil monopoly aims to boost its capacity more than threefold as its present reserves are barely enough to fulfill the Kathmandu Valley’s requirement for a week.
Indian company Tank Tech Asia has been awarded the construction contract through a global bidding process. NOC Director Birendra Kumar Goit said the selected company was the sole bidder.
On March 27, NOC had called for global tenders to build new facilities at its Thankot depot, the main petroleum supply unit for the valley. The Thankot depot has a capacity to store 1,870 kilolitres of gasoline. The expansion plan will result in the capacity being increased to 6,000 kilolitres, enough
to fulfill the valley’s requirement for 20-25 days, the corporation said.
NOC wants to install an aluminum internal floating roof system at each of the two existing storage tanks with a capacity of 2,100 kilolitres of kerosene. The planned aluminum internal floating roof is expected to prevent loss due to evaporation.
Citing low demand for kerosene, NOC has stepped up work to upgrade the petrol storage capacity. Currently, NOC can store 5,100 kilolitres of petrol at its depots across the country. The stock is barely enough for two weeks. The cost of expanding the petrol storage capacity at the Thankot depot has been estimated at Rs17 million. Goit said they had given the Indian company six months to complete the task.
NOC acted to expand its storage capacity following criticism that it was too small. The country was hit by an acute shortage of fuel following the Indian trade embargo which has also been blamed on insufficient reserves.
NOC to sell ATF at Bhadrapur too
KATHMANDU: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is slated to start selling aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at Bhadrapur Airport on Wednesday. According to the oil monopoly, it has set up a refueling unit with a capacity to stock 27 kilolitres of aviation fuel.
Bhadrapur handles one of the largest number of domestic flights daily. NOC Director Birendra Kumar Goit said they fixed the mobile depot there due to huge demand.
According to Goit, demand for aviation fuel at Bhadrapur Airport stands at 3-4 kilolitres daily. “During the upcoming festival season, demand will swell even more,” he said.
Currently, NOC sells aviation fuel from eight depots scattered across the country. There are fuel depots in Kathmandu and Surkhet and one each in the five development regions. It also maintains a refueling station at Manthali in Ramechhap district.