Oil company issued notice to pay Rs400m

LAHORE: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MP&NR) has sent a notice to Total Parco Pakistan, directing it to pay Rs 401 million as Petroleum Levy charges pending for the past several years, The News has learnt.

Sources in the ministry confided to this correspondent that the ministry had taken strong notice of the pending amount by some leading oil and gas companies under the head of Petroleum Levy and ordered the quarters concerned to take immediate steps for the recovery of dues at the earliest. 

Sources said, the ministry has sent a notice to the managing director of Total Parco Pakistan on March 16, 2017, asking him to pay Rs 401 million as pointed out in the audit paras from 2010 to 2013. 

“Total Parco is once again requested to deposit immediately the entire due amount in the Government designated head of Account and furnish a copy of payment challan to this office in its support. It is also requested to specify particulars of payment (audit para number, respective year & specific amount) in the relevant column of the Challan”, a letter, available with The News, written by ministry’s director, Dil Nawaz Khan, reads. 

It may be relevant to mention here that FIA Lahore is investigating over a dozen oil and gas companies for not paying the Petroleum Levy amounting to over Rs80 billion on the directions of Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan. So far a company, Byco, has paid over Rs 3 billion.

An FIA official, privy to the developments, seeking anonymity, told The News that the agency had summoned Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Parco last month for statement but he couldn’t appear before the investigation team. Rather, the oficial said, the company approached Lahore High Court which suspended FIA’s notice in the first week of March 2017. 

When contacted on Friday, Ammar Yasir, Manager Legal of Total Parco, expressed his complete ignorance regarding any notice issued by the Ministry or the FIA. He, however, said if they received any such correspondence from the Ministry they would respond as per law.  When contacted, Spokesman of the Petroleum Ministry Addl Secretary Furqan Bahadur said he has no knowledge of any such correspondence with the Parco regard Petroleum Levy issue.