Oil and gas shares flare as govt plans to spend Rs 7.5 trn on related infra

Gujarat Gas, Gujarat State Petronet and Indraprastha Gas rallied up to 18 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade

Shares of oil and gas companies advanced up to 18 per cent in intra-day trade on the BSE on Thursday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government is planning to invest Rs 7.5 trillion to build oil and gas infrastructure over the next five years.

Shares of Gujarat Gas zoomed 18 per cent to Rs 527, followed by Gujarat State Petronet (11 per cent to Rs 266), Indraprastha Gas (9 per cent to Rs 595), Mahanagar Gas (7 per cent at Rs 1,229) and Gail (India) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) by 5 per cent at Rs 142 and Rs 107, respectively.

At 10:11 am, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index, the top gainer among sectoral indices, was up 3.3 per cent, as compared to 0.01 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex.

After dedicating the Ramanathapuram–Thoothukudi natural gas pipeline and Gasoline desulfurisation unit at Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd and laying the foundation stone for the Rs 31,500 crore Cauvery basin Refinery at Nagapattinam, the Prime Minister said that in 2019-20, India imported over 85 per cent of oil and 53 per cent of gas to meet its domestic demands.

"We are planning to spend around Rs 7.5 lakh crore (Es 7.5 trillion) in creating oil and gas infrastructure over five years," said the Prime Minister. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

“The government’s priority allocation of domestic gas to City Gas Distribution (CGD) sector has enabled Mahanagar Gas (MGL) to access cheaper gas for compressed natural gas (CNG) and domestic business segments. MGL’s strong gas pipeline infrastructure and expanding operations in Mumbai, its adjoining areas and Raigad district will enable it to capture the benefits of the large and growing market given the low penetration,” analysts at ICICI Securities said in the company's results update.

The environmental concerns in Delhi had brought forth the urgency of using cleaner fuels, putting the company in a sweet spot. Indraprashta Gas has a unique identity of a company with a rare mix of volume growth and strong margins. In the near term, while industrial/commercial piped Natural gas (PNG) have recovered faster, CNG sales are yet to recover fully, the brokerage firm said.