Finance Minister Asad Umar has been made chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) and notification to this effect was issued following the approval of the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Imran Khan has re-constituted the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) with Finance Minister Asad Umar as its chairman. Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Minister for Power Omer Ayub, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bukhtiar, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood would be the members of the CCoE.

The first meeting of the CCoE was chaired by the finance minister on Wednesday and the meeting decided to conduct an independent audit of the gas billing for December 2018 through external auditors in addition to the inquiry regarding excessive billing already being conducted by the Petroleum Division. The meeting also decided that reports of both the inquiry and the independent audit would be submitted to the CCoE.

The meeting also discussed the issue of gas theft, action taken against illegal practices and the determination of the Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) benchmark and directed the Ministry of Energy to address the issue.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019