Tal Block pilferage: PAC tosses out ministry’s report on fuel theft

Terms it an attempt to mislead accounts watchdog

ISLAMABAD:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday rejected findings of a government inquiry report which saved the skin of field operators by shifting responsibility for pilfering oil and gas from one of the country’s most profitable fields onto ‘skilled miscreants’.

Terming the report an eyewash, the PAC constituted a special panel that will determine the role of the joint venture partners of Tal Block. The block is operated by MOL-Pakistan, OGDCL, GHPL, PPL, POL and other partners. The scandal will be the first of its kind where field operators and owners are suspected of the theft.

A recent news report run by a daily newspaper claimed oil and gas worth Rs20 billion to Rs40 billion had been stolen from Tal Block pipelines through various pilferage points. The report prompted PAC to take notice and order an inquiry into the allegations.



On Wednesday, the petroleum ministry presented the findings of the inquiry report, admitting that at least two out of eight pilferage points were used in the theft of oil from Tal Block.

One of these was the Makori East point, fact-finding committee member and OGDCL official Dr Shakeel Ahmed told PAC, saying that the frequency of pilferage could not be ascertained. He added that the theft of oil was carried out by ‘very skilled miscreants’.

However, Dr Shakeel denied that fuel worth Rs20 billion to Rs40 billion was pilfered, saying that this would amount to two to four million barrels of oil, stealing which would be ‘technically impossible’.

However, the PAC did not agree to the government’s findings and suspected that the company officials were involved in the theft.

“The unknown miscreants drilled the pipelines during low-pressure periods, which would be impossible without inside information,” said PAC Chairman Khursheed Shah. “This theft seems to have occurred with the connivance of the field operator or of its other partners, and their role has to be determined,” he said.

Shah termed the petroleum ministry’s report an attempt to guide PAC away from the real issue and said this was tantamount to concealing the identities of those involved in the theft. He added that it was unlikely MOL Pakistan did this alone and feared that other partners were involved in the scandal.

While rejecting the government’s report, the PAC constituted a committee that will be headed by Syed Naveed Qamar, former minister for petroleum and natural resources, to ascertain the facts.

The additional auditor general of Pakistan told the PAC that the allegations levelled in the news report had certain basis. He said federal auditors have already framed audit objections regarding oil theft and also on extending well testing periods beyond permissible limits. Few of the audit objections have also been highlighted in the latest audit reports, which will soon be tabled in front of parliament, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2015.