ONGC, Oil India and Hindustan Oil Exploration trade mixed as Centre increases natural gas price

ONGC, Oil India and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company- the major listed upstream oil companies in the country traded mixed after the centre on Monday raised the price of natural gas produced from difficult areas like deep sea KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries, marginally to USD 10.16 per million British thermal unit in line with international trends, an official notification said.

At the last count shares of ONGC traded weak by 0.4 per cent at Rs 296.8 per share,  Oil India was down by 0.23 per cent at Rs 578.9 and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company traded with minor gains of 0.19 per cent at Rs 231.7 per share.

Primarily, a rise in natural gas prices is positive for upstream oil producers as every $1 increase in gas prices shoots up the EBITDA levels for ONGC and Oil India. 

For the six months starting October 1, the price of gas from deep sea and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPTP) areas has been raised to USD 10.16 per mmBtu from USD 9.87 per mmBtu during April-September, oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said in a notification.