OGDCL Faces Rs635B Receivables, AGP Audit

Islamabad, August 24, 2025, 10:28 PM PKT — The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has unveiled a scathing audit, exposing grave financial lapses at the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), where outstanding receivables ballooned to Rs635 billion by fiscal year 2023-24, as per official findings. Over Rs350 billion of these dues, tied to circular debt with SNGPL, SSGC, Uch Power Private Ltd., and Attock Refinery, have languished for over a year despite 30–60 day payment terms, with OGDCL recovering Rs153.7 billion by November 2024, though the issue has persisted since Rs321 billion in 2019-20 and Rs577 billion in 2023-24.

The audit flagged irregularities in the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS), where 432 million shares worth Rs43 billion, transferred to an employee fund in 2009, were deemed unconstitutional by a 2020 Supreme Court ruling, yet 266 million shares and Rs41 billion in unpaid dividends remain unreturned, with only Rs20 billion deposited in September 2024, four years late. Another lapse saw OGDCL fail to penalize Siemens Pakistan for wrong and short gas turbine parts, granting an undue Rs118 million benefit, while Rs13 billion in revenue losses from 2021–2024 gas curtailment at Qadirpur, Nashpa, and Chanda fields risked long-term productivity. Web context on state audits shows recurrent issues, while posts found on X reflect anger—some demand accountability, others question oversight. Critically, the narrative of “sector stability” may mask deep mismanagement—web data hints at past cover-ups, and X sentiment suggests distrust in reform, pointing to urgent action needs