THE 15-member Inquiry Commission on petroleum crisis of June this year has done a really commendable job by exposing the weaknesses of the entire oil supply chain, ministries concerned and the regulator Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) besides recommending measures that have the potential to reform the energy sector. It has called for departmental proceedings against top hierarchy of the Petroleum Division, dissolution of OGRA, a halt to the operations of refinery and oil marketing company Byco and review of petroleum prices on a monthly basis instead of fifteen days as is being done now.
The Prime Minister has an ambitious agenda of institutional reforms and a 163-page report of the Commission can serve as a good basis for reforming the energy sector, the inefficiencies of which have thoroughly been exposed. The Commission has strongly criticized lethargic working of the Ministry and wondered that the Ministry and OGRA have no record of oil situation and data of petrol pumps in the country. The Petroleum Division imposed a ban on import of petrol in March when prices were at the lowest ebb in the international market and Pakistan consumers were denied its benefits. The petrol supply was deliberately halted to the pumps, an artificial crisis was created and seven companies got profit of Rs 2 billion in the first four days due to the increase in petrol prices. It is also shocking that despite deployment of huge manpower, there is no letup in smuggling of oil products from Iran inflicting huge losses to the national exchequer. The report pointed out that petroleum products of Rs 250 billion are smuggled from Iran’s Taftan border and just 20 per cent of the smuggled petrol is confiscated. We hope the Government would immediately initiate measures to rectify the wrongs pointed out by the Commission and there would be no cover up in the name of further probe.
