PESHAWAR: Advisor to the Caretaker Chief Minister on Finance, Energy and Power Himayatullah Khan has raised concern over the exclusion of the Windfall Levy clause from the Tal Block Supplemental Agreement.
Tal Block is an oil and gas field located in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a letter addressed to the Federal State Minister for Petroleum Musadiq Malik, Himayatullah has requested an inquiry against government officials involved in the matter.
According to the letter, the omission of the Windfall Levy on the Oil clause from the Supplemental Agreement has resulted in substantial financial losses amounting to billions of rupees for both the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments.
The TAL Block was awarded to various companies under the 1997 Petroleum Policy, and these companies, including MOL, PPL, POL, OGDCL, and GHPL later applied for conversion to Petroleum Policy 2012 through the Supplemental Agreement executed on Aug 28, 2015.
Contrary to the provisions of Petroleum Policy 2012, the Windfall Levy on Oil clause was not included in the Supplemental Agreement. In an attempt to rectify this omission, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa requested the federal government to move a CCI Summary. Consequently, the Petroleum Division issued a notification on December 27, 2017, declaring that the clause pertaining to Windfall Levy on Oil was to be considered a part of the executed Supplemental Agreements, the letter reads.
However, MOL and its Partners (PPL, POL, OGDCL & GHPL) challenged this notification by filing writ petitions in the Islamabad High Court in early 2018. As a result, the case has been pending in the IHC, causing substantial financial losses to both the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, it states.
In light of these concerns, Himayatullah recommended the formation of an inquiry/investigation committee to probe the involvement of officials in this alleged illegality and to take strict actions against them. The letter also suggests that public sector companies (OGDCL, GHPL & PPL) should be directed to withdraw their writ petition from the Islamabad High Court and pay the Windfall Levy on oil to the federal government and the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as required by the policy.