Replacement of govt reps on BOD: PD scrutinizes around 350 petroleum experts

Petroleum Division has scrutinized around 350 local and foreign petroleum experts for replacement of government representations in the board of directors (BOD) of nine public sector oil and gas companies having major shareholding of the government.

Petroleum Division has already reconstituted the board of directors/governance of five government-owned companies out of 14 companies in line with the election manifestos of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Out of 14 companies, five companies are listed companies on stock exchange and nine are non-listed companies.

Petroleum Division is interviewing retired local and overseas Pakistani oil and gas experts with experiences of financial and legal affairs in oil and gas sector. The candidates will not be eligible who are in service with any of oil and gas companies to avoid any conflict of interest, sources said.

In October 2018, former Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan had announced that all politically motivated boards of directors of oil and gas companies would be reconstituted in the next 100 days in a bid to ensure transparency in the hiring process.

He maintained that provincial representation had been ensured and it was for the first time in the country's corporate history that women had also been made part of the boards.

So for, the government has appointed heads of board of directors of five companies. Dr Shamshad Akhtar, ex-governor State Bank of Pakistan and a leading UN professional was appointed head of the Sui Southern Gas Company's BoD.

After death of Dilawar Abbas Shah, new chairman of BOD will be appointed of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited's BoD. Dilawar Abbas had over four decades of experience in the oil and gas sector.

Qamar Sharif, who has been appointed as Chairman of OGDCL's BoD, holds a PhD in petroleum and has over 40 years of experience in Exploration and Production (E&P) sector globally. He has also served in Shell International and Saudi Aramco.

Another prominent appointment is of Shamsuddin Sheikh, heads the BoD of Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation. He holds degrees of MBA and ME in Industrial Engineering from the US.