The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday issued a stay order against the transfer of shareholding of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), asking three federal government organisations to submit comments by October 20 in response to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government''s petition.
The Advocate-General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had filed a petition in the PHC under Article 199, making OGDCL, Privatisation Commission, Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Joint Registrar of Companies, KASB Bank Limited and Securities Limited as respondents.
The provincial government urged the PHC to restrain OGDCL from offering for sale or otherwise transferring shareholding till the disposal of the matter. Appearing on behalf of the provincial government, Shumail Ahmad Butt contended before a division bench of Justice Qaiser Khurshid Khan and Justice Musrat Hilali, pointing out Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been blessed by the nature with immense mineral oil and natural gas potential.
He said that recent discoveries of oil and gas in the province have made it one of the richest petroleum regions in the country producing almost 50 percent of the entire indigenous oil production and 10 percent of the total natural gas supplies.
Butt told the bench that Exploration and Production (E&P) in up-stream oil and gas sector is carried out in different geographical regions that are called ''blocks''. Territories comprising Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are divided into 22 blocks, where-against petroleum rights and concessions are awarded to different E&P Companies. He argued that OGDCL has a significant footprint in and hold on oil and gas resources in the Province with 100 percent ownership in Latambar, Wali, Pezu, Hetu, Dhakni, Baratai and Orakzai Blocks, whereas a sizable interest is owned in other blocks as well as Tal (30%), Gurgalot (75%), Nashpa (65%), Kohat (30%) and Bannu West (40%).
He contended that in major producing fields such as Makori, Makori East, Manzalai, Mamikhel, and Maramzai, the OGDCL owns up to 27.76 percent stakes besides having non-operating interests in numerous other important concessions.
"All these irrefutable facts and figures make OGDCL one of the biggest players in the oil and gas sector for the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well," Butt pleaded.
He urged the court to restrain all the respondents from transferring, alienating or diminishing existing shareholding or giving effect to impugned sale, adding that the entire process of impugned sale may also be declared void ab-initio and ultra vires.
Accepting the plea of the provincial government, the division bench directed the OGDCL, SECP and Privatisation Commission to file comments in response to the petition and adjourned hearing of the case till October 20.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Asad Umar tweeted, " The PHC has granted stay order against the sale of OGDC shares. Petition was filed by the KPK govt against the proposed transaction".
It is worth mentioning that a three-member team of Privatisation Commission already has left the country to participate in the road shows of Global Depository Shares (GDSs) of the OGDCL.
"No high ranking official is present in the office. Chairman Mohammad Zubair and Acting Secretary along with Transaction Manger have gone abroad to participate in roadshows," the spokesman for the Privatisation Commission told Business Recorder. Responding to a question, the spokesperson said that they didn''t receive any court verdict but heard about a stay order through media reports.
The PC kick-started road shows on October 2, 2014 in London for GDSs and secondary public offering (SPO) of ordinary shares in OGDCL. Sources said the government is expecting Rs 84 billion ($816 million) through the sell-off of 7.5 percent of its stake in OGDCL.
The government is offering 323 million ordinary shares and GDs, each representing 10 ordinary shares. The pricing for the offering is scheduled for October 16, with trading of the GDSs in London set for October 21.
The international market roadshows are scheduled to be held in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, Frankfurt, Stockholm, New York, Boston and Chicago.
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