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People in various parts of the country faced significant hardships on Wednesday after private petrol pumps remained shut following the Nepal Oli Corporation's decision to reduce the prices of petroleum products significantly.

Although the corporation has stated that the problem has been resolved, private petrol stations in Kathmandu were closed till evening. Notices saying "No Petrol" have been put up at these stations.

Petroleum products are currently available only at fuel stations operated by the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and the Armed Police Force. Since the private stations remained closed, long queues had formed at the fuel stations run by these security agencies.

Earlier, on Tuesday a meeting of NOC's board of directors decided to reduce the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) effective from Wednesday morning.

According to a press statement of NOC, the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and cooking gas have been decreased due to the reduction in the price received from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Tuesday.

Under the new pricing, petrol has become cheaper by Rs. 20 per litre, while diesel and kerosene prices have been reduced by Rs. 30 per litre each.

The corporation has also lowered the price of cooking gas by Rs. 100 per cylinder.

Similarly, the price of aviation fuel for domestic flights has been cut by Rs. 40 per litre, while international aviation fuel has been reduced by USD 265 per kilolitre.

Following the revision, petrol in Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara and Dipayal will now cost Rs. 197 per litre, down from Rs. 217.

The prices of diesel and kerosene in these areas have been reduced to Rs. 195 per litre from Rs. 225.

Similarly, petrol will now cost Rs. 194.50 per litre in the first category (Chaarali, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Amlekhjung, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi and Birgunj) and Rs. 196 per litre in the second category (Surkhet and Dang).

The price of diesel and kerosene will now be Rs. 192.50 per litre each in the first category and Rs. 194 each in the second category.

The price of a half-filled LPG cylinder has been reduced to Rs. 1,030, while a full-filled cylinder will now cost Rs. 2,060.

NOC currently allows gas bottling plants to sell half-filled LPG cylinders.

The revised price of aviation fuel for domestic flights has dropped from Rs. 269 per litre to Rs. 229 per litre.

For international flights, aviation fuel in Kathmandu has been fixed at USD 1,566 per kilolitre.

In Pokhara, the price has been reduced from USD 1,325 to USD 1,100 per kilolitre, while in Bhairahawa it has fallen from USD 1,308 to USD 1,085 per kilolitre.

NOC said that although automatic price adjustments had not been possible in recent months due to fluctuations in international petroleum prices, the recent decline in global fuel prices has enabled the corporation to pass on the benefit of lower import costs to consumers.