ISLAMABAD, May 10: A Spokesman of the Privatization Commission said here on Friday that there was no delay in the privatization of oil and gas sector.

Commenting on Dawn’s report, published on Friday, he stated that there was a complete unanimity and cooperation within all the government departments with respect to the government policy for privatization and deregulation of the oil and gas sector. Similarly, there is absoutely no relevance or bearing of this issue on the subject of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) marketing.

He said that extensive preparatory work is required before the transactions is brought to the market. This includes a thorough assessment of the transaction, professional valuation, assessment of the prevailing market conditions, analysis of future supply and demand situation, projections on future oil and gas prices, etc.

The spokesman stated that given the complexity and the importance of these issues it is vital that all the stakeholders, principal one being the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources is involved through iterative consultative process before arriving at the best transaction structure in the national interest. It is, therefore, imperative that only after the completion of a thorough due diligence and transaction structuring exercise, OGDCL transaction is brought to the market.

In order to facilitate this process, the government has constituted various forums including coordination committees, steering committees, PC board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation to coordinate, decide upon and oversee such important transactions. All of these forums work in a cohesive and focused fashion within the mandates prescribed for them by the government.

It was pointed out that an internationally reputable adviser such as Merrill Lynch is actively working on the OGDCL transaction with a view to bringing it to the market as per schedule.

The spokesman also said the divestment of government of Pakistan’s working interests in nine oil and gas fields has also been taken up, bidding for which was held recently. It was clarified that the government of Pakistan approved and processed the sale of the government of Pakistan working interests in five oil and gas fields, which met the GOP criteria for divestment.

The Government will take a decision regarding the divestment of its working interests in the remaining fields including Badin I shortly, as per the prescribed parameters.