ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted a two-member committee to probe into contradictory statements regarding outstanding dues against Cnergyico PK Ltd (CPL) to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) and the Petroleum Division, causing serious embarrassment.

Informed sources stated that the Secretary of Petroleum, Momin Agha, had nominated a joint secretary, Khalil Ahmed, and a director, Syed Ahsen, of the Policy Wing to conduct an inquiry into the misstatement by officials of the Directorate General of Oil, Policy Wing, within the Ministry of Petroleum.

An official memorandum, seen by Dawn, suggested that during a meeting to prepare a presentation for the prime minister, it was revealed that no outstanding amount was pending against CPL. “However, during the subsequent presentation in the PMO, the officials of DG Oil stated that an amount of Rs5bn was outstanding against CPL”.

“This misinformation caused embarrassment to the Petroleum Division,” it said. Therefore, an inquiry was ordered to ascertain responsibility and take appropriate action against the officials involved in the ‘misstatement’.

It may be recalled that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) in its meeting on Aug 26 approved a summary of the Petroleum Division regarding recovery of about Rs47.5bn petroleum levy collected from consumers but defaulted by CPL since 2019. With a late payment surcharge, the total claimed amount had reached about Rs60bn.

The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) had mediated a settlement framework to bail out CPL from payables to the Petroleum Division and the Government of Pakistan. The ECC had then approved the settlement framework prepared in line with the decisions of SIFC Apex/EC/IC for recovery of the principal amount of petroleum levy duty audited to date, and authorised the Petroleum Division to sign the proposed deed of settlement with CPL”, according to an official statement.

The ECC had also directed that “the entire outstanding amount of petroleum levy be recovered strictly in accordance with the terms of the settlement”.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2025