All MD’s sacked in oil and gas sector; Energy crises in Pakistan

All MD’s sacked in oil and gas sector; Energy crises in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD – With energy crisis continuing to build in the country, the government has finally come up with some sort of policy to cut down the expenses. In a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his adviser on Petroleum and Gas sector in Pakistan, Dr Asim Hussain, a decision was taken to sack all the managing directors of various companies operating under the ministry of Natural Resources and Petroleum.

In a statement from Presidential Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, it was revealed that Hussain will have the status of Federal Ministers. After the meeting, it was further advised that appointment of new boards of directors of all the participating organisations and companies under the Petroleum Ministry will be reconstituted. It was decided in the meeting that new format of boards will exclude the posts of minister and secretary. To control energy and power crisis in the country, it was decided that no more new gas connections would be issued in both commercial and residential zones for next six months at any cost.

Pakistan’s two most resourceful gas companies; the Sui Northern and the Sui Southern Gas companies were asked to form a jointly ventured LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) Petroleum gas company in the country. Officials in the petroleum/energy sector as well as the companies/institutions operating under the body, who are aged 60 years or more, would have to retire with immediate effect as per the meeting.

Further, it was decided that any pending court cases will be dealt with vigorously to remove obstacles and collect remaining dues from the defaulters. Problems in exploration and distribution of oil and gas within the country would also be resolved with strong actions. Mr Hussain was advised by the Prime Minister to control the circular debt and that it does not accumulate any further to avoid continuous loss of energy. The new minister was also asked to control the prices of petroleum products in the country as soon as possible.

Yousuf Raza Gilani discussed possibilities of revamping the oil and gas sector in Pakistan to achieve proper communication/coordination among all the relevant organisations. He explained that the purpose of this whole exercise is to esnure efficient distribution of oil and gas to consumer and relevant industries. He further commented that, there is a need to develop a long term hydrocarbon vision for the next twenty years including the exploration, drilling and operations of natural gas, petrol and coal. To ensure better employment rate in oil and gas sector, he ordered the minister to come up with short term plan to achieve targets from the existing facilities in oil and gas field of Pakistan.

 

Posted by Ahmed Tariq on Oct 17 2011. Filed under Pakistan, Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry