Under the provisions of 18th Constitutional Amendment limited autonomy were given to the provinces in some of the areas including the energy and oil exploration. These sectors need massive foreign investment in terms of technical assistance and cash flow. The amendment among other subjects also covers oil and gas exploration business. To avail this constitutional right the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Province was the first federating unit to establish its own Oil and Gas Exploration Company under the nomenclature of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Oil & Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL) in 2013. The objective was to undertake the oil and gas exploration by itself so that the provincial government can benefits its public. This was an excellent move on the part of the province. However, former Chief Minister of previous PTI government Pervaiz Khattak, in gross violation of merit, appointed Mr. Raziudden (Razi) the firs CEO of this company who had been allegedly terminated first from Attok Refinery The same exercise of glaring nepotism is now being repeated in the appointment of new CEO after the sacking of previous one because of his mismanagement and professional incompetence because he dismally failed to come up to the expectations. This blue eyed guy of the former Chief Minister could not put in place the much needed technical infrastructure for the OGCL in terms of equipment and manpower which was inevitable for collaboration with foreign oil exploration companies.
The then CEO KPOGCL was hired on a sky-high salary of around 2.5 million rupees along with generous perks and privileges, He spent five years by mere baseless claims regarding oil, and gas exploration, oil and gas production and other several service that virtually were non-existent. He kept the provincial bureaucracy and government mesmerized for five years without any progress because of political backing. The previous provincial government had understood the game of CEO towards the end of its but being captive of personal gains the then the top political master of the province did not take any stern action against him. There was a perception, right or wrong, that he had availed the support from some diehards PTI’s members enabling him to keep on enjoying his services. The present PTI government was indeed very quick to understand the game which was being played. The advisor on energy to the Chief Minister being a practical and sagacious person could not see anything ground to endorse or support the Razi’s claims.
Eventually the incumbent government did not take long time to get rid of the CEO, but despite taking out 40 buckets from the stinking smelling well of KPOGCL but could majority of professionally dead and rotten species of former CEO team could not be pulled out and they are lying therein intact and well entrenched.
The present government abolished the Board of Directors (BOD) of KPOGCL and constituted a new one which is certainly better than the previous hierarchy. At least two technical people have been inducted in the new organizational setup that will be of help but still the BOD does not have any Geoscientist with relevant experience in oil and gas exploration. Hence its future performance will always be plagued by some flaws and inefficiencies regarding understanding real exploration Business. It is noteworthy that the two or three technical person on the BOD are from mid or down-stream oil industry with no specialist from upstream industry therefore matters related to upstream will not be properly attended as they should be. It is also worth mentioning that at this initial stage the KPOGCL needs upstream industry specialists with proven successful track record in oil exploration and production.
The KPOGCL now is in search of new CEO / MD to run the show. Initially, few persons were interviewed but possibly none of them was up to standard and hence KPOGCL has to re-advertise the post. This time very highly qualified persons with relevant and versatile experience and successful track record had offered their services but somehow the short-listing committee, comprising HR manager, Company Secretary and one director, picked four persons in which three were very weak to make way for the fourth one. This fourth one is Mr. Usman Khattak who is a petroleum Engineer however he does not have the elementary knowledge of the science of oil exploration. He has several sympathizers in the BOD. Interestingly, the Chairman and five directors of the seven members BOD are Khattaks which may have been appointed by the former Chief Minister. The board needs thorough overhaul if a misnomer for the present government is to be avoided.
The CEO post is the last and most powerful post to be given to Mr. Usman Khattak, mere on the basis of tribal and political considerations, utterly neglecting the highest qualification, rich experience and professional competence of deserving applicant. Thus the team corresponding to a particular group and serving the vested interest at the cost of national interest will be completed. Thereafter the KPOGCL may or may not succeed to get exploration done in the province yet it will be extremely successful in serving a particular vested interest group, which will certainly damage the image of PTI leadership.
