Petrol crisis 2020: Government makes inquiry commission report public

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday made public the inquiry commission’s report on the petrol crisis-2020, ARY News reported.

According to the details, the inquiry commission held oil marketing companies, Petroleum Division and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) responsible for the acute fuel crisis in the country last year.

When the oil prices had been falling in the international market, the authorities concerned imposed a ban on the import of fuel, read the report. However, the inquiry report termed the recent fuel crisis in the country artificial.

The oil marketing companies deliberately stopped supplying petroleum products to petrol pumps despite having considerable stocks at their disposal to make more money.

Describing the reasons behind the fuel crisis, the report said that DG oil had been appointed illegally in the Petroleum Division. The report also raised questions over the appointments of OGRA chairperson and its members.

The report recommends the dissolution of OGRA via the Act of Parliament. It also suggests action against Petroleum Division secretary, DG oil and others. Prices of petroleum products should be fixed on a monthly basis, suggests the report.

Read More: Petrol crisis 2020: SAPM Nadeem Babar resigns on PM Imran Khan’s orders

Earlier on March 26, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Nadeem Babar had resigned from his post after premier Imran Khan asked him to leave his post owing to a probe regarding the fuel crisis during June 2020 in the country.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had divulged the decisions made by the prime minister besides also announcing strict actions against oil companies and bureaucracy in a presser that day.

Asad Umar had said that the government had also decided to make the ministerial committee report on fuel crisis 2020 public.

“The FIA will probe the criminal negligence in the entire episode as they have been tasked to bring forward evidence in this regard,” he had said adding that the FIA would bring forward the report carrying out a forensic audit within 90 days.