ISLAMABAD  -   Rejecting the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) claim of meeting with leading oil marketing companies (OMCs), on price differential claim (PDC), IFEM and other matters, the Oil Company Advisory Council (OCAC) has alleged that the regulator is promoting small companies while ignoring the major shareholders of the oil industry which is alarming and unacceptable.

“No meeting of the regulator was taken place with the major shareholders of the oil industry, on price differential claim (PDC), IFEM and other matters, and instead nonentity is being projected as a major player in the industry, Oil Company Advisory Council (OCAC) said in a letter written to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

It is worth noting here that last week Ogra had claimed of holding a meeting with top oil marketing companies (OMCs) and Oil Marketing Association of Pakistan (OMAP) on price differential claim (PDC), IFEM and other matters.

“OCAC and its major member companies controlling more than 85pc of the market share were unaware of any such meeting,” the letter written by OCAC to Ogra said. The copy of the letter available with The Nation further said undue credit is being given to a nonentity which was inactive before finalisation of procedure for reimbursement of PDC.

OCAC along with its member companies has been coordinating in order to manage the current “price differential claim (PDC) regime” and supply chain issues being faced by the country. Furthermore, IFEM is being convened by OCAC and its member companies since its inception. The letter said that nonentity does not even possess relevant expertise and it is claimed that that matters related to PDC and IFEM were discussed. Despite the above, the nonentity is being projected as a major player in the industry; this projection is alarming and unacceptable.

“We would also like to highlight that despite the fact that OCAC had no role in the mechanism for reimbursement of PDC approved by ECC, OGRA has included it in the same. OCAC has accepted this inclusion despite serious reservations of its Executive Committee,” the letter said.