E&P firms frustrated over delays in amended policy implementation

ISLAMABAD: Exploration and Production (E&P) companies have expressed frustration over the lack of progress on implementing the amended E&P Policy 2012.

“The companies that pledged $5 billion in investments in Pakistan’s oil and gas sector to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are still waiting for the implementation framework, which is essential to enforcing the amended policy,” senior officials told The News.

On July 6, 2024, the prime minister had established a 20-member committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, to address all gas-related issues, including enforcement of the amended E&P Policy 2012. Although the committee has met three to four times, no progress has been made in approving the implementation framework, which, as per the CCI’s decision, must be submitted to ECNEC to proceed with enforcing the policy.

During committee meetings, Dar has repeatedly said that the framework cannot be approved if it goes against the spirit of the CCI’s January 2024 decision. Nevertheless, nine months have passed since the amended policy was approved by the CCI, yet the Petroleum Division has made no significant progress on the implementation framework.

Three months ago, the Petroleum Division had transferred the director general of the Directorate General Petroleum Concessions (DGPC), who was adhering to the CCI-approved spirit of the amended E&P Policy 2024, which allows E&P companies to sell 35% of the gas from future discoveries to the private sector at auctioned prices.

A director within the DGPC has been given acting charge for 90 days, effective August 6, 2024. However, the acting DGPC had suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised.*

The Petroleum Division confirmed that while the acting DG had survived the heart attack, adding attributing his illness to any pressure from the ministry is baseless. The petroleum secretary has the authority to extend the acting DG’s term for another 90 days, and further extensions can be granted by the petroleum minister or the prime minister if needed.

The Petroleum Division also said that the acting DGPC’s performance is satisfactory, with business operating as usual and no targets having been set for him during the 90 days.

During this time, the DGPC, in collaboration with a Chinese company, had conducted three surveys along coastal areas and offered some blocks to the company for exploration, with data sharing currently underway.