Kathmandu  - Nepalese officials Thursday warned the country was set to run out of petroleum products within a week as shortages hit commuters and motorists.

The state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation said it would not be able to import more fuel without government support.

"We will run out of stock of petroleum products within eight days," the Nepal Oil Corporation said. "Our reserve of petrol and diesel will last for six days and there is enough aviation fuel for eight days."

The warning came as severe petrol shortages hit the Himalayan nation, prompting motorists and operators of public transport vehicles to queue up for limited amounts of fuel.

The fuel shortages were triggered by the Nepal Oil Corporation's inability to pay debts to the Indian Oil Corporation which supplies almost all of Nepal's petroleum products.

Last year Indian Oil Corporation said it would not be able to supply petroleum products to Nepal without the debts being cleared first.

Nepal Oil Corporation says it is incurring a loss of nearly 2 billion rupees (about 30 million dollars) a month mainly because it had to sell petroleum products at lower prices than the import costs.

It has called on the government to provide funding to meet the debts or raise oil prices to maintain supply.

"Without government support we will not be able import more petroleum products for distribution in the Nepalese market," Nepal Oil Corporation said.

"We must look at the long term supply mechanism and must involve the private sector in the import and distribution as grants alone will not resolve the problem."

On Thursday, long lines built up at a few petrol stations still distributing petrol and diesel. Some of the lines were more than a kilometre long.

"I have been waiting in the line for nearly five hours," taxi driver Pramod Tamang said. "I don't even know if I will get any petrol as the station could run out of supply."

The government has already raised fuel prices three times since October last year to maintain supply. However, officials say a further hike is now necessary due to rising oil prices in the international market. (dpa)