Govt to reconstitute boards of oil, gas firms

Measure is aimed at ensuring transparency in appointment process

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan announced on Friday that all politically motivated boards of directors of oil and gas companies would be reconstituted in the next 100 days in a bid to ensure transparency in the hiring process.

Speaking at a press conference, the petroleum minister said the boards of directors of oil and gas companies were constituted on political grounds and therefore the appointments were not based on merit.

He said the current government had reconstituted the boards of directors of six companies while the remaining would also be reconstituted in the next 100 days. The boards would also elect their own professional chairmen and chief executive officers would be appointed after clearance, he said.

Under the austerity drive, according to the minister, the Petroleum Division and the oil and gas companies had auctioned 85 cars and the austerity and other cost-cutting measures had brought revenue of Rs66.8 million.

Talking about the hike in gas prices, he said a higher increase was made for the elite consumers who consumed more, adding a 10-20% increase was made for the first category of consumers among the three slabs.

He pointed out that in the last five years, losses of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) had increased and now they had been given targets to reduce the losses.

Losses of SNGPL and SSGC stood at 11% and 13% respectively due to no change in prices for the last five years. He revealed that industrial sectors in Punjab including Faisalabad and Lahore were involved in gas theft.

The minister added that the government had decided to provide subsidised gas to five industrial sectors and would give Rs25 billion in subsidy in three months.

He pointed out that the government had reduced sales tax on LPG by 7%, which brought down the price of domestic cylinder to Rs1,359 from Rs1,800.



The previous government did not auction a single block for exploration in the last five years, he complained. "The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has selected 40 blocks, of which 10 blocks have been auctioned to explore gas."

He disclosed that the federal government had written letters to provinces, asking them to give names for representing them on the boards of oil and gas companies. The government has also decided to revise the petroleum policy.

Khan shared that ExxonMobil would start offshore drilling 230 km from Karachi in January next year. Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Eni and ExxonMobil have 25% shareholding each in this offshore block.

He said work on two refineries in Balochistan was at the advanced stage. Parco is setting up a refinery and the UAE will set up another refinery in the province for which 2,000 acres of land has been allocated.



He said the crown price of the UAE would visit Pakistan and an agreement would be signed soon.

The minister said the government was also working on three gas pipelines which included Tapi, IP and an offshore gas pipeline. Work on the Tapi pipeline was at the advanced stage.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2018.

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