ONGC profit up 15% on higher prices

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today reported 15 per cent rise in the December quarter net profit as higher prices made up for fall in output.

The net profit in the October-December quarter of the current financial year was at Rs 5,014.67 crore, 15.2 per cent higher than Rs 4,352.33 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement.

ONGC got $60.58 for every barrel of crude oil it produced during the quarter as compared to $51.80 it realised in the year-ago period.

Also, gas price it got was higher at USD 2.89 per million British thermal unit as against USD 2.5 per mmBtu in third quarter of 2016-17.

Crude oil production dropped 1 per cent to 5.2 million tonnes while gas output rose 4.5 per cent at about 6 billion cubic meters.

ONGC's total income rose 15 per cent to Rs 24,122.42 crore during the third quarter of 2017-18.

The company, which last month completed acquisition of government's 51.11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) for Rs 36,915 crore, deferred a decision on payment of a second interim dividend to the next meeting of the board.

ONGC said it made as many as 10 oil and gas discoveries so far in the 2017-18 fiscal.

Among the latest discoveries is an oil find in Cauvery basin where a well on the L-II PML Block struck two oil bearing zones.

"The success in this well has helped in establishing the Nannilam Play (sand) to be of commercial interests at a very shallow depth for further exploration in addition to the known Basement play in the Mattur-Pundi area and declared as a new prospect discovery," the statement said.

Commercial oil and gas flow in the well would facilitate the conversion of the 7-year mining lease for the block into long term/regular mining lease, it added.