Home »Editorials » Streamlining OMCs’ affairs

It is heartening to note that the Shell Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, is said to have made 'full' payment to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) in damages and compensation to the victims of Ahmedpur Sharqia oil tanker fire that killed 215 people last month. Ogra is said to have asked Shell to pay $2.4 million, or $9,500 to the families of each person killed. According to an Ogra statement, a staggering 85 percent of all oil tankers do not abide by prescribed standards under which all transport vehicles and equipment used for transportation of petroleum products had to upgrade within five years of the 2009 standards coming into effect. The OMCs are certainly to blame for it.

However, the fact that an overwhelming majority of them failed to take necessary measures within the stipulated timeframe lays part of the blame at Ogra's door too for shirking its responsibility to streamline the sector's affairs in a timely fashion. It took a major disaster for the regulator to spur into action. The OMCs are said to seek up to a two-year period to fully comply with the regulatory standards. That seems unacceptable in view of the lurking danger that oil tankers plying on the national highways present to public life every day. There may be better options. The two sides need to sit together to find a solution that keeps the oil marketing activity going without compromising public safety.







 

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