Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has ordered the ministry of petroleum (MoP) to conduct inquiry into an Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) tender case that the local companies claimed was meant to keep them out of bidding process.
The Prime Minister secretariat directed the secretary petroleum to submit his probe report on urgent basis. OGDCL had floated a tender some time back wherein it invited bids from oil companies for sharing and operating of its discovered oil and gas fields.
Sources said OGDCL's terms and conditions, in particular, that 20 years experience of operating in Pakistan's oil and gas sector with annual turnover of 4 billion is needed was a major concern to the local companies.
With an exception of three local companies including two in public sector- Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Mari Gas Company Limited (MGCL) -and only one-POL-from the private sector, none met the criteria.
The local oil and gas companies raised the issue with the Prime Minister and apprised him that OGDCL tailored the tender in order to offer its fields to some pre-selected groups. They informed Shaukat Aziz that the terms and conditions laid down were contrary to the government's fundamental objectives to attract investment in oil and gas sector and maintained that the tender appeared to have been structured to exclude participation of the local oil companies.
The complainants were of the view that the local oil and gas companies pressed the government to auction dormant and small OGDCL's fields to ensure that these are developed to increase oil and gas production.
The aggrieved companies noted that OGDCL's tender reflected unprofessional approach to the issue. Unfortunately, they added, that the tender appeared to have been structured to eliminate the participation of local companies knowing fully well that foreign oil companies will not bid as the fields are too small for them and thus uneconomical.
Since the offered fields were too small to get the attention of any reputed foreign or local company, and to top that hard conditions of the tender could add in turning the entire process of bidding into a futile exercise.
The aggrieved companies demanded of the Prime Minister that OGDCL should be directed to revise the terms and conditions of the tenders to ensure that maximum local oil companies get the chance to participate in the bidding process.
This correspondent made several attempts to get comments from OGDCL managing director, Raziuddin. But, he neither attended his official phone nor cell phone.