ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed the Petroleum Directorate to submit within three days the details of non-payment of dues by two oil companies.
The complaint was submitted to the Prime Minister’s office by an NGO that two oil and gas exploration companies are willfully defaulting on their obligations to pay outstanding royalties of Rs 1.13 billion.
The complaint also highlighted that the Petroleum Directorate was also not recovering dues from the two companies — Spud Energy and Frontier Holdings Ltd.
Meanwhile, responding to the query, a senior official of the Directorate of Petroleum said that both the companies had been sent several notices by the Director General of Petroleum Concession (DGPC). The last notice was served in February 2022.
Incidentally, the DGPC had also asked oil and gas buyers from these companies, including Sui Southern Company (SSGCL), Pakistan Refinery and others, to withhold payments, but it was rejected by the buyers as they were not authorized to collect government dues. contributions, including royalties.
According to the details of the letter, Spud Energy owes nearly Rs 835 million, while Frontier Holdings owes Rs 303 million to the federal government, but added that the amount could be higher as these companies have not paid their various dues to many sections of exploration.