The Ministry of Petroleum has recommended the appointment of Zahir Irfan Farani as the managing director of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL). The ministry also suggested the name of Irfan Nasar for the slot of the managing director of the Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL). An official source said that the recommendations of only one person for each slot perturbed the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and it later sought details about the panel that had interviewed the candidates.
The secretariat’s concerns have delayed the appointment process that the ministry is eager to complete before July 31, when incumbent OGDCL MD Asif Sindhu leaves. The source said that the name of only one candidate for each slot had been sent to the secretariat under the petroleum minister’s directives. After sending the summary, the ministry named Basharat A Mirza as acting OGDCL MD.
Mirza is a chartered accountant and has served as the GM in the supply chain management of the company. An official source said that the recommendation of Farani as OGDCL MD was unexpected since he had no political links. He said the development created a sense of jubilation among the company officials. The source said that at the time when all the geologists ruled out presence of oil and gas reserves in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Farani argued against it.
He added that later his study proved to be true after a significant discovery of oil and gas reserves in the province.
