OGDCL running without regular MD

ISLAMABAD: The coalition government has failed to appoint a regular managing director (MD) of the country’s flagship exploration and production company Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) despite passage of nine months and reconstitute the board of directors (BoDs) of state-owned entities such as Government Holding Private Ltd (GHPL), Inter State Gas System (ISGS), Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) and Pakistan Minerals Development Corporation (PMDC) mainly because of rifts among the ruling component parties.

“Under the new scenario, the Petroleum Division has sought an extension to the boards of GHPL, ISGS, PLL, and PMDC as the life of the boards of said entities has expired,” one of the top men in the coalition government told The News.

“We have sought an extension of the boards of some important companies attached to the Petroleum Division mainly because the ruling parties failed to evolve a consensus on new directors,” a senior official of the Energy Ministry confirmed to The News.

He added that the Board of Directors of Sui Southern Gas Company and Pakistan State Oil is already on three-month extension.

“We have worked a lot and finalised the names for directors of said entities to complete the new boards, but interference from political parties for their nominees has caused delays. This is why the Petroleum Division has sought an extension of the existing boards till the new boards come to existence.”

The petroleum sector, the official said, is very delicate and the nominees of ruling political parties can only be accommodated if they have reasonable know-how of the current dynamics in the oil and gas sector, including LNG.

To manage the ruling component parties, a ministerial committee headed by Khawaja Asif comprising Syed Naveed Qamar, Ahad Cheema, Junaid Anwar and Ayaz Sadiq is working on the new board of directors of the said entities.

Zahid Mir, the official said, has already been shortlisted for a long time, but he is not being appointed as OGDCL MD owing to the opposition by a cabinet member from Balochistan. This is how the state-owned entities are being run and managed through acting MDs, the official said, adding the OGDCL is being run without a regular Managing Director since September 2021.

The official said that the Petroleum Division earlier tried to propose Salman Akhter to fill the vacancy of one director in Sui Northern and his name was also proposed to replace the existing chairperson of the SNGPL. But this summary was rejected by the higher authorities.

Coming to GHPL, the official said, its MD Masood Nabi will also complete his tenure after five months. Interestingly, he is also acting as MD of Pakistan LNG Limited since November 30, 2020. The government also failed to appoint a regular managing director of Pakistan LNG Limited.

To various queries raised by this correspondent, the Petroleum Division (PD) spokesperson stated: “The boards’ composition is under process and shall be appointed as per the public sector corporate governance rules and “fit and proper” criteria and due diligence. The new boards are being constituted after the expiry of the time period of the existing ones. The short-term extension is accorded as per law in case of delay in the search of suitable candidates. SECP guidelines are followed. It is the prerogative of the government to appoint suitable persons to the boards and the search takes a while to complete. The Petroleum Division is committed to completing the task at the earliest timeframe. Regarding the appointment of MD OGDCL, it is informed that it is in the final steps now.”