Oil scam worth Rs328 million unearthed in OGDC

Inquiry report reveals pilferage as far back as 2006.

ISLAMABAD:

Theft of diesel worth over Rs328 million has been unearthed in the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) where officials have allegedly been involved in stealing large amounts of High Speed Diesel (HSD) from the Tando Alam field.

The oil theft has reportedly been going on since 2006 and OGDC management had been getting complaints but nothing had been done. The current Managing Director (MD) OGDCL Bisharat Mirza constituted a three-member Fact Finding Committee that has unearthed the embezzlement.

The MD has suspended Chief Engineer/Operation Manager Logistics Niaz Ahmad Arbab and In-charge Store Hussain Bux Narejo due to their alleged embezzlement of HSD at Logistic Base Tando Alam.

When contacted Managing Director (MD) OGDC Bisharat Mirza confirmed that officials had been suspended over charges of corruption and security staff had been changed at the Tando Alam field.

Three-member committee was headed by M Zafarullah Chaudhry GM HSEQ. According to inquiry report – a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune - the committee has recommended that the accused officers remain suspended till the completion of final inquiry.

During the interrogation, Store Incharge Hussain Bux Narejo told the committee that the operation manager (Niaz Ahmed Arbab) had been involved in the embezzlement of HSD since 2006. Narejo alleged that Arbab used to embezzle 15 to 20 drums of HSD every day and send them to his agriculture lands.

Narejo alleged that Arbab used to get Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per truck form the drivers as his share. Narejo confessed before the committee that he used to get his share regularly from the operation manager. The committee said that the record shows Narejo has been involved in stealing concerned files from the workshop office from the field mess, which were later found in his office. However, the weekly HSD statements were missing.

Inquiry committee has noted that 206 bowsers were stolen during 2006-2011 causing a loss of Rs328.171 million to OGDC based on current market price of HSD at Rs 103.46 per litre. It also pointed fingers at the concerned department at OGDC head office whose monitoring was very poor and there had been no mechanism to forecast the demand and consumption at field. Therefore, the committee said, the irregular demands were never scrutinised. It further noted that the head office of the company never bothered to investigate this embezzlement since 2006.

“It is gross negligence on the part of operation manager as well as the department at head office which could not properly evaluate the demands and consumption regularly,” the report said. The committee has strongly recommended that a formal inquiry be conducted to conclude the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2012.