ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources has directed the Federal Investigation Agency to expedite the inquiry into the theft of crude oil from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak oilfield.

The committee, which met here on Friday, also directed the petroleum ministry to provide the relevant record to the FIA within a week.

A representative of the FIA apprised the committee of preliminary findings into the oil theft case.

The committee was informed that more than 100 FIRs had been registered against the people allegedly involved in stealing condensate oil from the Karak oilfield.

NA standing committee directs petroleum ministry to provide relevant record to the agency within a week

Briefing the committee on the theft, the FIA official expressed helplessness, saying that officials of the petroleum ministry, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and relevant oil and gas exploration company were not cooperating with the FIA in the inquiry process.

The initial report, prepared by the FIA, highlighted that local police too did not file the cases properly and there was no reference of the men allegedly involved in selling or buying the stolen oil.

The condensate oil can be used in some old engines after mixing it with diesel or petrol and the FIA has pointed out that there were three main modes of stealing oil directly from the oilfield.

Giving details, the FIA official said that the first mode was to puncture the main supply line and steal the leaking oil; the second method was to make alterations in oil tankers and create additional space for filling oil in the tankers and then oil was filled in that space in connivance with the operator of the oilfield. The third mode, the official said, was stealing oil through water tankers which supplied water to the oilfield.

The official said that none of the stakeholders concerned, including the area police and the petroleum ministry, was cooperating with the FIA to provide technical details.

MNA Akram Durrani of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl criticised delay in finalising the inquiry and said that the petroleum ministry was deliberately trying to prolong the matter.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2016