PESHAWAR: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday ordered Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct probe regarding allegations of theft of crude oil from oil fields in Karak.
The bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed Arshad Ali, also ordered the Federal Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources Mian Asad Hayaud Din, who had appeared on court notice, to assist the FIA in the inquiry.
The bench issued the order while hearing a joint petition filed by around 50 inhabitants of Banda Daud Shah tehsil of Karak including Mujahid Islam etc. seeking different relief from the court including cancellation of the licence of an international oil and gas exploration company over the alleged theft of crude oil.
The petitioners have requested the court to declare that the people of Karak, Kohat and Hangu, whose properties and lands suffered damage and who faced health hazards and environmental degradation due to oil exploration, are entitled to compensation by the provincial and federal governments.
They also prayed the court to pronounce that the FIA, law-enforcement agencies, federal and provincial revenue authorities, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), OGDCL, and federal and provincial anti-corruption bodies are involved in the oil and gas theft and other issues as they safeguard the interest of the exploration company.
FIA’s additional director Sajjad Khan also appeared along with a deputy attorney general Asghar Khan Kundi and stated that they lacked technical support for probing the matter and the petroleum division had not been cooperating in that regard.
Federal Secretary Mian Asad Hayaud Din appeared on court’s notice and assured that the ministry would fully support and cooperate with the FIA as per the directives of the high court. He added that whatever technical assistance was required to the agency the ministry of petroleum would provide the same.
The company MOL Pakistan has also submitted its comments to the petition denying all the allegations leveled against it. The company stated it had fulfilled all its social welfare obligations.
It is added that the issue has been investigated multiple times and MOL Pakistan is in fact a victim of the said theft, and the company has been cleared by the Public Accounts Committee and a few investigations in the past.
The company claimed that since 1999 its joint venture had paid back to the government and the communities a sum of Rupees 91 billion in the shape of royalties (Rs 88 billion), production bonuses (Rs 960 million), and through other activities, such as infrastructure development and social welfare.
It is added that with the support of MOL Pakistan, at the cost of Rs. 700 million, the new 373m long Khushal Garh Bridge was constructed in 2014, connecting the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, with over 5,000 vehicles using the bridge daily.
Petitioners’ Counsel Fazal Shah Mohmand said that MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the MOL Plc, had started operations in Pakistan after it was awarded an exploration licence and a petroleum concession agreement was made in Feb 1999.
He alleged that the company claimed to be producing 8,000 barrel per day (BPD) of oil in the licensed area, whereas an inquiry earlier conducted by the FIA, Khyber Palhtunkhwa, had found huge discrepancies and corrupt practices in the operation of the company as the production was more than 30,000 BPD.
The lawyer claimed that the matter was also taken up by the National Assembly standing committee on petroleum few years ago but due to pressure of influential elements involved the issue was put in cold storage.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021