A Nepalese delegation is set to leave for China on Friday to seal a commercial deal on importing petroleum products, a top official said on Thursday.
Nepal's move comes after India imposed an unofficial blockade, halting the supplies of petroleum products, resulting in the crisis since September.
"Two representatives from Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) along with officials from the Ministry Commerce and Supplies will leave for China tomorrow. The agreement will be signed within a few days," Sushil Bhattarai, NOC managing director, told Xinhua news agency.
However, the details of the delegation were not disclosed, IANS reported. Nepal has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to import a third of its total demand of petroleum products from China. Prior to commercial agreement, the two sides will finalise the pricing, fuel supply mechanism, routes, and supply procedures among other issues.
Nepalese Minister for Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Man Pun, who returned from a week-long China trip on Tuesday, announced that that Beijing will start supplying fuel right after a week of signing the commercial agreement.
A fuel crisis in Nepal has disrupted aid agencies' efforts to send essential items like blankets and clothing to earthquake survivors in remote mountainous areas before winter sets in, aid workers said on Wednesday.
Protests at the Indian border over Nepal's new constitution, which began in September, have prevented tankers from taking petroleum into the landlocked Himalayan nation, forcing Kathmandu to ration fuel and import supplies from China.
Thomson Reuters Foundation adds: Aid groups supporting people hit by twin quakes in April and May say the mile-long queues for fuel and the lack of cooking gas have affected hundreds of thousands of people in the impoverished nation, including quake survivors.
"Hospitals have run out of essential drugs and supplies, vital social services have been disrupted and aid agencies such as Oxfam have not been able to secure fuel to deliver relief items to prepare people for the winter in earthquake affected districts," said Cecilia Keizer, head of Oxfam in Nepal.
"If the situation continues, Oxfam's humanitarian programme will come to a complete standstill within two weeks," Keizer said in a statement. Oxfam, which was planning to deliver thermal mats, blankets and hot water bottles to people in rural areas, said it had already had to reduce its programme.
Max Santner, Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Nepal, said the IFRC had had to change the type of relief it was providing to around 48,000 quake survivors.
"The shortages of fuel are definitely hindering our operations. Instead of providing blankets and clothing for the winter, we are going to distribute cash vouchers as we don't have the fuel to take up trucks filled with aid," he said. "We hope that people will be able to buy winter items where they are, but we are not sure on availability."
Aid workers said the shortages of fuel and basic goods had not reached emergency levels, but they were trying to save fuel.
"We have reduced non-essential travel, we are doing more car pooling and increasing the number of staff travelling in one vehicle," said Jeff Franklin from Save the Children in Nepal.
"We have also applied for a fuel-import licence, increased the amount of funds we are appealing for to take into consideration the higher costs of fuel and are tapping into fuel provisions offered by the U.N.," he added.
