Concerns raised over gas sale deal without bidding

MOL Pakistan, an operator and 10 per cent shareholder in Tal Block, Kohat, has finalised the sale of gas from the newly developed Razgir field, which is 65pc owned by the state-owned entities (SOEs), to the first privately owned gas firm — Universal Gas Distribution Company Ltd (UGDCL). This enables the Islamabad-based UGDCL to acquire about 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas for its private customers, mostly CNG stations, to be sold through a pipeline network of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Le (SNGPL) on payment of wheeling charges. The transaction, still to be finally signed, has aggrieved other private gas distribution companies who claim the natural resource, overwhelmingly owned by the SOEs, could not be legally sold to a third party without competitive bidding. They alleged that SOE managements, under the influence of higher-ups, were facilitating the transaction instead of seeking competitive bidding for higher revenues to the government and better returns to shareholders. They also went against the 2023 Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision that required a bidding process.