ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division secretary on Wednesday, while rejecting “The report of the inquiry commission on shortages of petroleum products in Pakistan,” said they have serious reservations on the report, and will contest before a four-member committee constituted by the Cabinet.
In an exclusive talk with Business Recorder, Petroleum Secretary Mian Asad Hayaud Din said he had serious reservations over not making hydrocarbon experts a part of inquiry commission formed under the head of FIA Additional Director General Abubakar Khudabakhsh.
He said they had serious reservations on the composition, scope, working, and findings of the inquiry commission.
The commission was constituted on July 28, 2020, and tasked to inquire into the crises of shortage of petroleum products in the country during the month of June 2020.
The commission made an intrusive probe, wherein, all stakeholders of the oil industry were incorporated.
Although the commission was assigned a set of TORs, many attendant issues were also examined and made part of the report.
The commission made secretary petroleum, Director General (Oil) Petroleum Division, Section Officer (SO) Petroleum Division, all chairmen/chairperson, members Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) responsible for the shortages of petroleum products, and other responsibilities, and recommended actions against them.
“How can a commission complete inquiry comprising members who never attended a production review meeting (PRM) of the Petroleum Division?” the secretary asked.
He maintained that the Petroleum Division recommended two former director generals of the Petroleum Division after Rashid Farooq, former DG Oil Petroleum Division and Asim Murtaza, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Petroleum Institute of Pakistan did not join the proceedings of the commission and conveyed their inability to join the commission due to personal/health reasons.
When asked, the Secretary Petroleum should object the composition of the commission without hydrocarbon experts at an earlier stage, he said, they recommended two experts which the commission declined to hire.
“The revelation that the commission did not take our recommended experts for support was made when commission released its report,” he said.
When asked why Minister for Energy (Power and Petroleum) Umar Ayub and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nadeem Babar were not made responsible for petroleum shortage, he said the commission grilled them for almost two hours.
He said he was principal accounting officer (PAO) of his division.
Earlier, in a sub-committee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on petroleum, he said he stood by his decisions which helped the nation to save billions of dollars.
He said the state-owned the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) would have face huge financial losses, if they would allow import of oil in March/April 2020.
When asked why the four-member committee was delaying taking decision, the secretary said the inquiry commission recommended to dissolve the Ogra and “The committee cannot hold its session as Asad Umar caught Covid-19”, he added.
Responding to convener committee Naveed Qamar, why the Petroleum Division did not import crude oil when it was at its lowest price, he said the government companies had storage of 34 days of oil at that time when disallowed import of oil.
He said they received explanation letter from the Petroleum Division to explain their position, and they were ready to face the questions of the four-member committee constituted by the Cabinet, he said.
Talking about the role of the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), the secretary said its position was like the APTAMA which was a body to negotiate Commerce Division.
Any OMCs could be member of the OCAC and could attend the PRM, he added.
He said Director General (Oil) Petroleum Division passed CSS exam and was an experienced person.
He held additional charge of DG Oil and qualified MBBS not a veterinary doctor. His qualification could be easily verified by the commission from Establishment Division, he added.
On December 15, 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan formed a four-member minister’s committee comprising Asad Umar, Shireen Mazari, Shafqat Mehmood, and Azam Khan Swati, to review the recommendations of the petrol crisis report.
The investigation report was presented during the Cabinet meeting after Lahore High Court (LHC) on December 14, 2020 directed the federal government to make the report public.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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