Competition: Lobbying under way for slot of OGRA chief

SNGPL’s former employee is tipped to win the post.

ISLAMABAD: Some top guns in the government are engaged in intense lobbying to place a former employee of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) as chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) in order to turn the regulator into a toothless body.

Earlier, the government had appointed an employee of SNGPL as member gas in Ogra, but it sparked a controversy. Now, the hiring of a former staff member of SNGPL as Ogra chairman could lead to another scandal.

The government has also faced issues with Ogra in dealing with import and handling of liquefied natural gas.

The slot of chairman fell vacant after Saeed Khan retired as Ogra chairman in April this year. The government had constituted a five-member committee for the scrutiny of aspiring candidates.

According to officials aware of the development, the committee has shortlisted three candidates including former secretary petroleum Ijaz Chaudhry, Ogra Member Finance Noorul Haq and former SNGPL employee Uzma Adil.

Adil is being tipped as the new chairman of Ogra for the next four years. SNGPL works under administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum.

The objective of Ogra is to safeguard the interest of consumers, but the appointment of its chairman from SNGPL will create a strong lobby of the gas utility that may influence affairs of the regulator.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2016.

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