ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Energy has asked the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and refineries to keep the relevant record available for audit purposes and extend full cooperation with the audit team in this regard.
In a bid to perform audit activity for the financial year 2021-22 (audit year 2020-21), Ministry of Energy Petroleum Division-Policy Wing), Directorate General (Oil) in a letter dated 7th September 2021 to 25 MDs and CEOs of OMCs and refineries, informed that audit team will visit ARL, PARCO refineries’ offices situated at Rawalpindi and Multan and all OMCs offices/depots at Machike, district Sheikhupura in next week.
“ It is, therefore, requested that the concerned officers under your regime be informed for the above visits and also be directed to keep the record (copies of In Bond GD/Ex-Bond, Treasury Challans, quantity registers and any other relevant record) readily available for audit purpose and extend full cooperation in this regard,” said the letter.
It is relevant to note that the Ministry of Energy has sent this letter to PARCO, Karachi, SPL, Karachi, Puma Energy, Karachi, BPPL, Karachi (OMC), Zoom Pet., Lahore, Quality 1 Pet., Islamabad, Hi-Tech Lubricants, Lahore, Jinn Pet., Islamabad, ARL, Rawalpindi, APL, Rawalpindi, Askar Oil, Lahore, BE Energy, Karachi, Zoom Mkt. Oils, Lahore, Oilco Pet., Lahore, Euro Oil, Lahore, Flow Petroleum, Lahore, PSO, Karachi, TPPL, Lahore, Hascol, Karachi, Gas & Oil, Lahore, Fuelers, Lahore, Horizon Oil, Lahore, My Petroleum, Lahore, Exceed Pet., Islamabad, and Allied Pet., Lahore.
Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Transport and Logistics (CCoTL), in a decision dated 01-09-2021, had directed the petroleum division to place the matter of deemed duty before the CCoE (Cabinet Committee on Energy) in its next meeting with the yearly breakup of duty collected by each refinery and its utilization since its inception. And, Directorate General of Oil, Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division), in a letter dated 6th September 2021 to the managing directors (MDs) of six refineries (Pak-Arab Refinery Limited, Byco Petroleum Ltd., Attock Refinery Limited, National Refinery Limited, Pakistan Refinery Limited, ENAR Petroleum Refining Facility Ltd.) has asked to provide a yearly breakup of deemed duty collected by each refinery and its utilization since its inception. Also, reports of audits of deemed duty conducted by 3rd party or government auditors from its inception.
“Above information/reply should be furnished within two (2) days, enabling this division to onward submission to CCoE of the Cabinet. Further, the soft copy of the requisite information in MS-Excel format may also be e-mailed at “ [email protected]”, in addition to the hard copy,” said the petroleum division’s letter.
According to sources, collection of the deemed duty has so far remained a controversial subject for the refineries. And, many believed that the refineries had received billions of rupees but they did not invest in plant upgrades.
It is pertinent to mention that the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) had earlier raised several questions over the proposed Refinery Policy 2021 and the major question was how much deemed duty the oil refineries had collected and what was the total investment in upgrading the projects out of the total receipts.
