ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday (Aug 25) is likely finalise the name of new chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). While talking to Business Recorder, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nadeem Babar said that three candidates were short listed by a committee set up by the prime minister for appointment of new chairman Ogra.

"We are hoping to get approval of final name for the chairman Ogra from the PM in a week," he added.

The oil and gas regulator has become dysfunctional after its chairperson retired on July 16, 2020. Uzma Adil was appointed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as Ogra chief in 2016 for a period of four years. After her retirement, the Ogra quorum is now incomplete.

The authority requires a chairman and three members to run its operations. The presence of at least three members is a must to handle regulatory affairs and take important decisions. The post of Ogra Member Oil was also vacant and now after the departure of the chairperson, the authority is left with only two members: member finance and member gas.

Member Finance Noorul Haq is now acting as vice chairman Ogra. With an incomplete quorum, the authority will not be able to perform regulatory duties such as determination of oil prices, issuance of licences and decisions pertaining to estimated revenue requirement for financial year 2020-2021.

A selection committee constituted to hire the chairman of the Ogra forwarded the short listed names to the prime minister for approval in the first week of August 2020. Special Assistant to PM Shahzad Akbar had short listed a panel of five candidates after conducting interviews of more than 24 candidates for the lucrative position of the Ogra chairman.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020