Federal Government has decided to appoint Masood Siddiqui as new head of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).
Notification would be issued in this regard soon.
According to reliable sources, ministry of petroleum had submitted a summary to the prime minister suggesting names of three officers for appointment as full-time managing director of the OGDCL.
The nominees included Masood Siddiqui, a former chief executive of Premier Kufpec Pakistan, Shahbaz Khan, a director at Hungarian MOL Pakistan and Riaz Khan, an executive at the OGDCL.
Sources said that due to Siddiqui’s vast experience in the oil and gas exploration sector as head of a multinational company Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in consultation with Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain has decided to appoint him as MD OGDCL.
He said Mr Siddiqui was the petroleum ministry’s top choice because of his experience in the oil and gas exploration sector as head of a multinational company. He has also been associated with ENI-Pakistan as a senior executive.
The post of managing director of the country’s largest oil and gas producer had been lying vacant for more than six months now following the resignation of Naeem Malik who opted to join the ministry of petroleum as the additional secretary instead of continuing as the OGDC chief executive. Since then, Mr Basharat Mirza – an executive director at the OGDC – has been officiating as the acting managing director.
Naeem Malik took over as the managing director of OGDC following a controversial appointment of Adnan Khwaja as the managing director. The appointment was cancelled by the Supreme Court because of his dubious educational qualification and involvement in a corruption case and subsequently becoming a beneficiary of the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance.