MD OGDCL Shahid Salim resigns before end of his tenure in office

• OGDCL MD Shahid Salim Tuesday unexpectedly resigns from his post before completion of three-year tenure.
• He was appointed as MD OGDCL on January 1, 2020 for a three-year term. 
• Salim says he has tendered his resignation because of personal and health reasons and wanted to give time to his family.

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) Managing Director (MD) Shahid Salim Tuesday unexpectedly resigned from his post before the completion of his three-year tenure.

Shahid Salim was appointed as MD OGDCL on January 1, 2020 for a three-year term. However, he surprisingly tendered his resignation from the post after just 21 months.

Top official sources told The News, "The Board of Directors of OGDCL that is to meet within days will accord a formal approval to the resignation tendered by Shahid Salim,” adding that surprisingly, in his place, the name of Anas Farooq, who is deputy Chief Financial Officer, is being tipped as acting Managing Director of the OGDCL.

For the last few weeks, Anas Farooq has been performing as acting CFO after Irteza Qureshi quit OGDCL as CFO. Irteza Qureshi has recently joined the Pak-Arab Refinery Company (PARCO) as DMD (Deputy Managing Director). They said the Board is also likely to approve Anas Farooq, who is a junior officer in the OGDCL, as the acting Managing Director. 

Some top guns in the Energy Ministry want Anas Farooq as acting MD OGDCL for the period for "questionable reasons" till the new managing director is appointed.

Shahid Salim confirms tendering resignation

Shahid Salim also confirmed to The News that he has submitted his resignation with the OGDCL Board of Directors. Salim said he has tendered his resignation because of personal reasons and health reasons and wanted to give time to his family.

Salim said he stepped up efforts to improve the governance, procedures and the system in the OGDCL during his tenure. Salim said he spent 40 years in the oil and gas sector and had started his career from the OGDCL. 

When asked what factors compelled him to resign and did not allow him to complete his three-year tenure as a regular managing director, Salim paused and said he wanted to give time to his family.

Earlier, the MD OGDCL Shahid Salim had confirmed to National Assembly Member Naveed Qamar that he had tendered his resignation on health grounds during the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting held here on Tuesday. 

Sources in the Energy Ministry and the OGDCL said Shahid Salim was not comfortable with the top decision-makers in the Energy Ministry and some board members. They also claimed that Shahid Salim's appointment as the managing director didn’t prove good for the OGDCL as his performance was found not up to the mark. 

Till his appointment as the OGDCL's managing director, the company remained without a formal managing director since 2013. Masood Siddiqui was the last regular managing director of the entity who served for a-year-and-a-half and then resigned.