ONGC investing Rs. 83,000 crore in 25 projects

In an aim to boost oil and gas production, country’s major explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is investing around Rs. 83,000 crore in 25 major projects.

It must be noted that 15 of these projects are currently under execution. The company informed that the cumulative oil and gas gain from these projects is expected to be over 180 Million Metric tons of Oil equivalents (MTOE) gas in their life cycle.

ONGC produced 24.23 million tonne of crude oil in the 2018-19 fiscal year and 25.81 billion cubic metres of natural gas from its domestic fields. From its overseas fields, ONGC has produced another 10.1 million tonne of oil and 4.736 bcm of gas. The oil and gas explorer is expecting a gas output of over 32 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) by financial year 2024.

Meanwhile, on the financial performance front, ONGC could not create any magic. It recorded net profit of Rs. 5,904 crore, a decline of 4 per cent. Revenues fell by 2 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 26,555 crore, which was lower than the Street estimates. Gas production has increased by 3.7 per cent year-on-year but crude oil production has dropped by 5.6 per cent. The company has reported a 7 per cent drop in net crude oil realizations to US$66.3 per barrel.

The national explorer is optimistic about the positive changes in the oil and gas sector, owing to new strong policies announced by the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry.

The shares of ONGC have slipped 21.82 per cent over the last year. On Friday, the stock of ONGC was trading at Rs. 128.30, up by 1.22 per cent. The stock had hit 52-week high of Rs. 185.00 and 52-week low of Rs. 126.00.