SNGPL MD position: Engro Fertilizers official, two in-house names recommended

Board of directors suggests three names, petroleum minister conducts interviews

ISLAMABAD:

The board of directors has recommended three names for the post of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited’s (SNGPL) managing director, including an official from Engro Fertilizers -- a subsidiary of Engro Corporation -- while suggesting two in-house names for the promotion.

The Engro group has recently seen one of its employees make the shift to a state-owned entity with Sheikh Imranul Haque making the move to Pakistan State Oil (PSO).



Haque was the chief at Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL) before he moved to the state-owned oil marketing company. At the time, Haque’s appointment was also of particular concern to many. He came from a private company, which has its fate closely linked to PSO.

“Now, another official from Engro, general manager operations of the fertiliser subsidiary Mudassar Yaqub Rathore, has been shortlisted by the SNGPL board,” said an official, adding that this may again concern a few.

Earlier, Arif Hameed had been heading affairs at SNGPL, but was forced to leave the company due to the controversy over the tripartite agreement between PSO, SSGC and SNGPL to share the risk for LNG distribution. The government was unable to sign the final tripartite agreement between the oil and gas firms, leading to a delay in signing the LNG deal with Qatar.

After Hameed’s exit, Amir Tufail, deputy managing director, was given the charge of SNGPL.“The board has recommended three names for the post of SNGPL MD, including Tufail, Rathore and current deputy managing director Amjad Latif.”



The official said that petroleum minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has conducted Latif and Tufail’s interviews before moving the summary to the prime minister.

What is in store for the new MD

Meanwhile, the new MD will have his work cut out. SNGPL has recently reported its financial results for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2013 after a gap of almost two and a half years.

In a notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the company reported that it incurred a loss of Rs9.75 billion in fiscal year 2013, compared to a profit of Rs3.04 billion in the comparative period of the previous year, putting a stamp on its loss-making status.

Increased gas development surcharge and higher finance cost meant the utility suffered during the year. An official said lowering the unaccounted for gas (UFG) ceiling has caused the entity to become a loss-making one.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.