The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy (Petroleum Division) was told Tuesday that there had been no political pressure on the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) that was performing its duties as per the law. “There is no pressure over us and we are performing our duties as per rules and regulations,” the OGRA chairman told the committee which asked whether there was any political pressure on him for performing the official commitments. The body, met here with Member of National Assembly Junaid Akbar in the chair, also confirmed the minutes of its last meeting held on August 27, 2021. The committee deferred the ‘The petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ as the ministry requested further time to complete the consultation process with relevant stakeholders. The body asked the ministry about worsening gas shortage and increase in the petroleum products prices in the country. It was told that Karachi was facing a massive shortage in gas supply as there had been more demand for the commodity in Quetta during winter. The forum was told that the country had been lacking storage capacity, otherwise the issue could be sorted out, permanently. While answering the committee regarding price hikes in petroleum products, the Petroleum Division officials stated that it was necessary to increase prices in Pakistan due to international price hikes. Among others, the meeting was attended by MNAs Malik Anwar Taj, Noor Alam Khan, Choudhary Aamir Sultan Cheema, Choudhary Khalid Javed, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Javed Murtaza Abbasi, and Mahar Irshad Ahmed Khan.