Enemalta’s chief finance officer Antoine Galea has admitted having been to dinner meetings with an oil trader implicated in corruption at the state energy company.

Testifying in front of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday, Mr Galea said he ate with George Farrugia, an agent for oil companies Total and Trafigura, in the presence of foreign representatives and former Enemalta CEO Karl Camilleri.

Mr Farrugia was given a presidential pardon to tell all on corrupt practices and bribery of former Enemalta officials involved in the purchase of oil.

However, Mr Galea could not remember how many such dinners took place. Asked whether he felt such dinners were ethical, Mr Galea insisted oil procurement was never discussed but the issues at stake revolved around “outlooks and oil specifications”. Mr Galea said these dinner meetings no longer took place today.

Mr Galea joined Enemalta in April 2009, taking over from former CFO Pippo Pandolfino. The PAC is probing the National Audit Office’s findings on how the state company bought oil between 2008 and 2011.

Mr Galea, who was the company’s contact person for the NAO for the audit, was questioned about an email then minister Austin Gatt had sent in November 2009 giving the company direction to hedge the price of oil when it reached $81.80 per barrel or less.

He insisted Dr Gatt’s “political direction” was intended to keep utility tariffs stable for a whole year but it tied Enemalta’s hands.

“We did not want to risk waiting until the price went much lower because if the market suddenly took an upward turn the minister would have been disappointed.”

Mr Galea said that with hindsight the corporation could have saved some €4 million had it carried out a proper risk assessment of the situation at the time.

Mr Galea disagreed with the finding that five times Enemalta bought oil not from the cheapest bidder. The issue had been raised by Mr Pandolfino when testifying in front of the PAC a couple of weeks ago – he had explained how the NAO’s conclusion was incorrect since it overlooked the purchase of security stocks, information that could have been easily ascertained had it been passed on by Enemalta.

Mr Galea said he had given the necessary explanations but the NAO was not satisfied. “I confirm that the five bids were the cheapest and according to specifications.”