ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s key oil and gas regulator has been without a permanent chairman for months, with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik saying the government should appoint an internationally recognised professional rather than a bureaucrat to lead the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
Speaking to a private news television channel, Malik said a search committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and headed by him had interviewed 10 candidates but found no one suitable for the top regulatory post.
“The committee’s decision was that none of them had the capacity to become Ogra chairman,” Malik said, adding that the government had recommended an internationally renowned figure for the position.
Official details show the Ogra chairman’s post has been vacant since Feb. 22, while the Member (Oil) position has remained unfilled since June 11. The government has assigned the additional charge of Ogra chairman to the Establishment Division secretary to keep the regulator functioning. The Cabinet Division began the process of appointing a permanent chairman in January, but the selection has yet to be finalised. The government also recently amended the Ogra Ordinance through a presidential ordinance, allowing the additional charge to be assigned to a Grade-21 or higher federal civil servant until a permanent appointment is made. Malik said the Ogra chairman does not report to the petroleum minister and that the regulator, which falls under the Cabinet Division, should remain independent. He said strengthening key institutions was essential to addressing Pakistan’s economic problems and stressed that competent leadership was critical. “If Ogra, Nepra, State Bank and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics are fixed, everything will be fixed,” Malik said.
