ISLAMABAD: The allegations of Rs15 billion corruption against Hascol oil marketing company landed in a parliamentary panel on Monday.

The matter was discussed in the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum where member committee, Afnanullah Khan accused Hascol of committing corruption of Rs15 billion.

Member Committee Senator Mohsin Aziz said they should not ignore this issue.

A joint meeting of the Standing Committees on Finance and Petroleum should be convened on this issue, Aziz suggested.

Secretary Petroleum Dr Arshad Mahmood said that Hascol was showing around Rs60 billion financial losses in last three years.

If that had happened, the company supposed to have already collapsed, the secretary petroleum added.

On Eid, Hascol pumps had run out of petrol in various parts of the country, the secretary petroleum claimed.

The secretary petroleum questioned: If massive losses were occurred then what were their boards and general managers doing.

Muhammad Abdul Qadir chaired the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum.

The issue of unemployment of Balochistan engineers and diploma holders in the petroleum sector was also discussed.

The parliamentary body also took up the matter of daily wage employees working for the last 16 years in the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and the Pakistan Petroleum Limited.

The issue of cancellation of coal mine lease agreements in Balochistan also came up for discussion.

The elimination of various taxes on imported LPG was also on agenda.

Sarfraz Bugti said that Pakistan Petroleum Limited did not hire Dera Bugti engineers in light of an MoU and added that they did not even receive the full amount of salary.

The petroleum officials informed the members that Pakistan has a daily supply of four billion cubic feet of gas. This also includes 1.2 billion cubic feet of LNG.

Sindh produces 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas and KP 400 million cubic feet of gas per day. Balochistan produces 800 million cubic feet of gas.

The secretary petroleum said that local gas production in the country is declining, which is a matter of grave concern.

More investments are required to create jobs in Sui, the MD Pakistan Petroleum Limited said.

We had pumped up to one billion cubic feet of gas per day from Sui in the past that has declined to 340 million cubic feet per day now, the MD Pakistan Petroleum Limited said. Fida Muhammad, Member Committee, said that oil and gas exploration companies should take steps for the employment of local people.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021