Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a confidential meeting to get the initial findings of a two-member committee tasked to identify the reasons behind the ongoing petrol crisis in the country. An official of Prime Minister Office on condition of anonymity said that the media office of Prime Minister's Secretariat was not allowed to attend the meeting for note-taking purpose. The committee tasked to enquire into the petrol crisis presented its initial findings to the Prime Minister.

The conclusion of the committee was that the petrol shortage was a serious failure on the part of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) as a regulator. The report has not been released by the Prime Minister's office or uploaded on any government website; however, a press release was issued that contended that the committee had held Ogra, the regulator, responsible for the crisis.

The press release stated that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting reviewing petroleum situation in the country and directed for structural changes to ensure that such a situation must not arise again. The two-member committee tasked to enquire this matter presented its initial findings to the Prime Minister and concluded that petrol shortage was a serious failure on the part of Ogra as a regulator. The meeting endorsed the earlier decision of suspending four senior officials "responsible" for the crisis and decided that DMD PSO, Sohail Butt, was also equally responsible and ordered his suspension as well.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2015