ISLAMABAD, July 21: A ministerial committee that was holding negotiations with Baloch Sardars to enable over 20 petroleum companies to start exploration activities in Balochistan has been dissolved, an official source told Dawn.

The committee, headed by interior minister Moinuddin Haider, comprised petroleum minister Usman Aminuddin, secretary petroleum M. Abdullah Yousaf and director general petroleum concessions G.A. Sabri.

In its place, a new committee led by chief secretary Balochistan is being constituted to continue negotiations with the Baloch Sardars. The committee would comprise heads of two state-owned petroleum companies — OGDCL and PPL — and director general petroleum concessions.

The sources said that Corps Commander Quetta Lt-Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch would oversee the negotiations process and keep contact with the committee but would not be part of the committee. A formal notification to this effect along with composition of the committee is expected over the next few days.

The negotiations were moving in the right direction and most of the decisions were under implementation but suddenly something went wrong behind the scenes that resulted in the collapse of talks between the government and Nawab Akbar Bugti late last month, the sources said.

“We are back to square one and everything would have to be started afresh,” a source said adding that over Rs250 million spent by the ODGCL also could not yield positive results.

Around 20 local and foreign petroleum exploration and development companies had declared political force majeure — meaning they could be excused from pressing ahead with the work programme of exploration and development as required under the agreement because of political and security factors over which they had no control.

Nawab Bugti and the government had agreed in September last year that rocket attacks on the country’s two largest gas producing fields — Sui and Uch — would not take place in future while Bugti tribals would also facilitate exploration activities.

In return, the state-owned exploration and production companies, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited had agreed to recruit as many as 150 Bugtis at Uch and Sui gasfields.

Moreover, all other social welfare and uplift projects were to be routed through Nawab Bugti. The government had also agreed to reconstruct a road from Uch to Sui that had been destroyed over the years.