ONGC's profit falls 15% in April-June
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a state-owned energy company in India, reported on August 5 a standalone profit of 89.38bn rupees ($1.06bn) for the April-June quarter of FY25 (Q1FY25), reflecting a 15.1% decline from the same period last year. The company's revenue increased 4.3% year/year to 352.66bn rupees despite the drop in profit.
During the quarter, the realised oil price from ONGC's nominated fields averaged $83.05/barrel, an 8.8% increase from the previous year. The average oil price for ONGC’s joint ventures was $80.64/barrel, up 14.2% year/year. The company’s realised gas price was $6.05/mn Btu, up 15% year/year.
Total oil production fell 1.4% year/year to 5.23mn tonnes, while gas output declined by 4.1% year/year to about 5bn m3.
ONGC has submitted a field development plan to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, India’s upstream regulator, for the monetisation of the Hatta gas discovery located in the Vindhyan Basin in Madhya Pradesh. This discovery was originally announced in March 2022.
In collaboration with another state-owned company, Indian Oil Corporation, ONGC plans to establish a small-scale LNG plant near the Hatta gas field. The establishment of the Hatta LNG plant will enhance the Vindhyan Basin's status, upgrading it from a Category II to a Category I basin, according to ONGC.
ONGC recently announced it will form a joint venture with Gurugram-based biogas company EverEnviro Resource Management to establish compressed biogas (CBG) plants across India. The proposed joint venture shall have 50 % equity shareholding each by ONGC’s newly formed subsidiary ONGC Green and Ever Enviro.
India heavily relies on LNG imports to meet a significant portion of its domestic gas demand, with LNG accounting for nearly half of the country's total gas consumption. By embracing CBG, India aims to promote sustainable energy sources and work towards achieving net-zero emission goals.
Experts suggest that this move will also result in a reduction of costly imported LNG, thereby helping India save precious foreign exchange.