ONGC Q3 net up 15% to Rs 50 bn from Rs 44 bn; crude oil production down 1%

The company's total crude oil production dropped by 1% from 6.4 million tonnes during the third quarter last year to 6.3 MT this year

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has posted a 15.2 per cent rise in net profit for the third quarter of the financial year 2017-18 to Rs 50.15 billion, compared to Rs 43.52 billion last year. 

The company's gross revenue for October to December quarter of the current quarter was seen at Rs 229.96 billion, up 14.9 per cent compared to Rs 200.14 billion during the same period in 2016-17. 

In January, ONGC had announced the acquisition of 51.1 per cent government stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation at a cost of Rs 369.15 billion. The deal helped the government to surpass the disinvestment target of Rs 725 billion for 2017-18. 

The company's total crude oil production dropped by 1 per cent from 6.4 million tonnes during the third quarter last year to 6.3 MT this year. On the other hand, natural gas production saw an increase of 4.2 per cent during the quarter under review to 6.277 billion cubic meter (BCM) as against 6.025 bcm during the October to December quarter in 2016. ONGC's standalone production registered an upswing during the first nine months with natural gas production increasing by 7.7 per cent, crude oil by 1.2 per cent and value-added products by 4.9 per cent compared to last year. 

The company added that it has notified total 10 discoveries so far in the financial year 2017-18. With the HPCL deal and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation deal that was closed early this year, ONGC has completed inorganic growth to the tune of Rs 480 billion for the financial year 2017-18.