ISLAMABAD: The government has restructured the board of directors of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) by adding four choice members of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

In a notification issued by the Ministry of Energy on Wednesday, the number of public sector members on the PPL board has been increased, those from the private sector reduced and for the first time Director General Petroleum Conce­ssions (DGPC) has been excluded from the board.

The new members to the board include Hasan Nasir Jamy, Sabino Sikandar Jalal (both senior officers of the Petroleum Division in addition to continuation of Secretary Petroleum Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Four private sector members continuing on the board include Dr Ibne Hassan, Salman Akhtar, Sajid Farooqi and Nadeem Qureshi.

Four private sector members removed from the board included Asif Baigmohamed, Ashraf Iqbal Baloch, Imtias Hussain Zaidi and Aftab Nabi. No reason was given for their removal.

Another member from the government side Agha Jan Akhtar who currently holds the portfolio of Chairman Port Qasim Authority (PQA) has also been added to the board as an independent director.

A fresh entry to the PPL board is Abid Saeed, former secretary petroleum when incumbent prime minister was working as petroleum minister.

Traditionally, the DGPC used to remain a permanent member on public sector exploration companies in view of his responsibilities dealing with exploration and production activities.

Interestingly, Saeedullah Shah, who has recently retired as DGPC, has been appointed on the board as independent member. Informed sources said a powerful personality in the government wanted him promoted to grade 21 from 20 just before his retirement but was objected to by the Establishment Division for being time-barred and against the criteria.

These sources said Mr Shah’s case for a backdated promotion has been directly moved for approval under prime minister’s discretionary powers. Over the past four years, the government is reported to have signed no new petroleum concession agreement or held bidding for fresh exploration wells. This could have far-reaching implications for sustainable flows of domestic oil and gas.

A separate case is reported to have been moved for conferring Tamgh-e-Imtiaz on Mr Shah for his services in the oil and gas sector.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2017