Sources told Business Recorder that after the resignation of chairman BoD Farooq Rehmatullah, Board of Directors which held a meeting in Karachi on Wednesday put a hold on the proposal for sale of Sara Suri field located in Sindh to a new entrant state Canada on throwaway price till the completion of third party evaluation of the reserve potential of the field.
"MD OGDCL proposed to evaluate the reserve potential and its price by conducting third party audit which will enable to take decision of farming it out," sources said, adding that the company board members endorsed the proposal noting that it will not be wise to put it on sale without proper evaluation.
Sources said BoD Chairman Farooq Rehmatullah who attended the meeting officially informed that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on April 23. Sources claimed that Prime Minister had approved his resignation and some new names were being considered for the post.
During the meeting, the Chairman said that he had informed the Prime Minister in his resignation that Section 196 of the Companies Ordinance 1984 clearly pointed out that business of the company should be managed by the board of directors. He also pointed out that code of corporate governance also required that the directors of listed companies shall exercise their powers and carry out their duties with a sense of objective judgement.
He said the Prime Minister was informed that Section 196 of Companies Ordinance 1984 and code of corporate governance stressed the government to appoint experienced and competent MD of OGDCL to run the smooth affairs of the company. "After this, the chairman walked out of the BoD meeting," sources said. Shah Mahboob Alam, executive director security, was appointed as acting managing director of the company on January 5, 2010.
The controversy erupted when the chairman OGDCL board had held a direct meeting with officers of the company to review the reserve potential of Sara Suri field and determine the price at which it would be profitable for OGDCL to continue operating the field. "The MD complained to the minister and secretary petroleum saying that the chairman was making intervention in the business of the company by holding direct meetings with the officials," sources said.