OGDCL’s receivables balloon to Rs200 billion

ISLAMABAD: State-owned gas utilities and power generation companies owed around Rs200 billion to Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), the company’s senior official said on Thursday.

OGDCL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Zahid Mir told the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum that the receivables were mostly against the Sui Southern Gas Company, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and power generation companies.

The committee also constituted a subcommittee to investigate whether the oil and gas exploration and development companies were following the government policy of hiring locals. It was decided that members of the subcommittee will visit eight oil and gas exploration blocks and analyse the employment situation.

The committee, which met with Senator Mohsin Aziz in chair, considered matters of non-installation of reverse osmosis (RO) water plants by the companies involved in exploration of oil and gas in district Sanghar, Sindh.

The committee sought details from the district deputy commissioner for installation of RO plants, as well as tenders being floated for the installation of the plants and funds spent so far.

The committee was informed that all companies were bound to deposit the social welfare obligation in the joint accounts with the concerned deputy commissioners.

Petroleum secretary said the local administration has not bothered to spend funds collected by the oil and gas companies under the DC (deputy commissioner) head. He further said funds were collected under corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives but had not been utilised for the uplift of local communities.

Companies were instructed to utilise the social welfare fund as per guidelines issued by the ministry.

The committee was informed that letters were written to all chief secretaries who would ensure funds be spent under CSR. Details of unspent CSR funds were sought by the committee from the whole country within two weeks. The committee directed oil and gas exploration companies to install 10 ROs plants.

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) Deputy Managing Director Syed Wamiq Bokhari informed the committee that the company spent Rs1 billion annually on CSR activities in exploration sites.

Senator Jahanzeb Jamaldini said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor did not improve the living standards of coastal areas as the people living in coastal area were facing acute shortage of drinking water. He alleged that drinking water was stolen from Gwadar. He maintained that oil and gas exploration companies should give employment to natives on priority basis.

He said the company utilises one percent of its income under CSR initiatives and an amount of Rs9 billion had been spent so far.

He said OGDCL has 48 exploratory blocks, and the company is drilling at 15 blocks. The company owns 47 oil fields in the whole country, of which 26 are in Sindh, 15 in Punjab and three each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Its net production stands at 41,564 barrels per day.

Senator Shamim Afridi argued that the rate of gas in Punjab was higher than Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also called for setting up dialysis centre at Kohat district and offered to bear all running expenditure of it.