A parliamentary panel on Tuesday was informed that establishment of a proposed oil refinery in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was delayed, as the provincial government has yet to allocate land to Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The Senate Sub-Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources met here under chairmanship of Senator Abdul Nabi Bangash and noted that the PSO was unable to start work on establishing refinery, as the company was facing serious financial crisis.
Nabi Bangash said that crude oil worth billions of rupee was stolen from the oil field located in district Karak of KPK, while the provincial government failed in taking action against the culprits. The committee, while expressing reservation over the delay in establishment of the proposed Oil Refinery in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, has said that PSO apparently was not in a position to establish the refinery in the area.
Briefing the committee, the PSO officials said that the state run entity planed to establish a refinery with a capacity to refine up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The committee decided to raise the issue of oil refinery with the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that there was no progress on the oil refinery. Convenor of the committee said that provincial government would have to provide 400 acres of land for establishing the oil refinery. The sub committee decided to write to Chief Secretary KPK regarding gas and oil theft.
The committee directed SPs Karrak, Hangu and Kohat to take strict action against elements involved in gas and oil theft. The committee also decided to move privilege motion against DCO Kohat for not attending the committee meeting. Senator Abdul Nabi Bangash directed OGDCL, PPL, SNGPL and MOL to prefer local residents in jobs. The representatives of Exploration and Production companies said that they give preference to the people of the area for unskilled jobs, adding that they also consider employing qualified persons against skilled jobs from the area wherever such qualified persons are available.
Member of the committee Senator Osman Saifullah Khan, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources Arshad Mirza, Director General Petroleum Concession Saeedullah Khan, DG Gas Qazi Muhammad Salim, DMD SNGPL Amjad Latif, MD OGDCL Muhammad Rafeh, GM PSO Khawar Abbas, GM PPL Sultan Maqsood, DC Karrak Karrak Shoib Jadoon, DC Hangu Naeem Anwar Sadozai, Regional Advisor MOL Ali Abbas, DPO Karak and SP Kohat Division also attended the meeting.