The Enemalta power station. Photo: Jason Borg

The police would be brought in if details were to emerge indicating that offences may have been committed in the purchase of oil by Enemalta, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said yesterday.

He was speaking about a damning report into the workings of the fuel procurement committee by the Auditor General, who complained that he had not been furnished with enough information to carry out a proper audit.

The report, which also delved into the operation of the hedging committee, identified a litany of serious shortcomings between 2008 and 2011.

They included failure to respect “fundamental principles of good practice”, abysmal record-keeping in terms of decisions taken and who took them, lack of a guiding policy in decision-making and ministerial interventions into hedging strategy.

“Had it been me and had these things happened under my watch I would have resigned,” Dr Mizzi said when asked whether he was expecting a resignation from Tonio Fenech, who was minister responsible for Enemalta in 2010 and 2011.

I’m not going to embark on a witch hunt but those who were responsible should stand up and admit it

However, he added: “I’m not going to embark on a witch hunt but those who were responsible should stand up and admit it.”

He insisted the Nationalist Party should shoulder responsibility for the wrongdoings highlighted in the report and Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil, whose party was in power at the time, should admit they occurred. And Mr Fenech should shoulder political responsibility.

Dr Mizzi described the 400-page report, which was published earlier this week, as one of the most damning ever to have come out of the National Audit Office.

He noted that record-keeping in the fuel procurement committee meetings was so inadequate that the Auditor General could not verify all purchases.

The ministry had invited the Auditor for a meeting to discuss the findings. He said he would call in the police if more details emerged that pointed to offences possibly having been committed.

Dr Mizzi said the report showed how former minister Austin Gatt (who was in charge of Enemalta in 2008, 2009 and some of 2010) interfered in Enemalta’s hedging policy by sending an e-mail detailing the price at which oil should be purchased.

A copy of the e-mail had been sent to Mr Fenech.

In 2009, he said, there had been hedging losses of $65 million. In 2010, the losses still amounted to $4 million in view of the “very amateurish” way in which things were done, Dr Mizzi said.

The Auditor described the minutes of the meetings as “abysmal”, with Dr Mizzi adding that they were “shocking”.

He announced that Enemalta would hold a workshop to ensure that all of the Auditor’s recommendations were implemented.

The Government had already introduced new procurement controls, including the appointment of a former Nationalist minister, Michael Falzon, as an independent observer on the oil procurement committee.

Enemalta was also encouraging more companies to bid for oil procurement tenders through an agreement with Platts International. As a result, the latest oil procurement contract was awarded to Shell, with a saving for Malta of $800,000 on the premium. He said the company was also in discussions with banks on how to pay for the oil, which could results in more savings.

In April the Government set up an internal audit unit reporting directly to the Enemalta board to investigate anything falling under its remit.

Dr Mizzi said the PN’s reaction to the NAO report was summed up in just four paragraphs. He invited the party to guarantee it would not happen again in the future.

The Enemalta power station. Photo: Jason Borg