THE petroleum exploration and production policy 2009 announced by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain on Thursday is by no means ill-conceived, as according to him it has been crafted not only to encourage foreign direct investment on a large scale, but will also address the rising energy demands inside the country. Central to the policy is the plan to speed up work on oil and gas exploration in areas where reserves had been discovered much earlier but left untapped owing to inaction on the part of the government. For the achievement of the goal, help from local and foreign oil companies will be sought and 100 new oil and gas wells will be drilled in the year 2009. What is heartening is that the exploration companies will pay 12.5 percent of royalty, besides 40 percent tax to the government, which will help generate revenues. Concurrently, the government has done well to fulfill its Corporate Social Responsibility by assuring 50 percent non-skilled job quota for local population residing in regions rich with oil reserves. This constitutes one of the longstanding demands of the people of Balochistan and NWFP, where a lot of resentment had germinated because the government had turned a blind eye to the demands of the locals by not providing them jobs in mega-projects that were established there. Take Gwadar, for example, where scores of poverty-stricken locals have been protesting that they be provided with jobs. The government's decision therefore to do away with the error in its new policy should be hailed. Nonetheless, some worries remain. They include the law and order situation, and the consumers who are in urgent need of relief. Mr Asim's statement hinting at a slight increase in gas tariffs evokes concern since the rates are already too high. Secondly, although he has tried to assure the exploration companies that considerable efforts will be made to provide them a safe and secure atmosphere, the concern still remains. Given the terror attacks in our cities and the turmoil in FATA and parts of Balochistan where kidnapping incidents are common, only concrete measures will do.