Oil and gas stocks slump on weak global crude oil prices; GAIL, ONGC hit 52-week lows

Index heavyweight RIL was down over 4% while GAIL and ONGC dropped to 52-week lows

Shares of oil and gas companies witnessed selling pressure with some of them hitting 52-week lows after concerns over sluggish economic growth in China led to sell-off in global commodities. Further, Iran's plans to boost crude oil production in an effort to boost market share also dampened sentiment.

NYMEX Crude Oil for Oct 2015 was nearing its 52-week low down 2.7% at $39.34 in electronic trade on Monday. Further,Brent crude for October was trading lower by 1.7% at $44.28.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down 4.3%, while ONGC and GAIL dropped over 6% to hit 52-week lows in intra-day trade today.

Further, state-owned oil marketing companies such as BPCL, HPCL and IOC were down 4-6% each.

The government will divest it's 10% stake per cent in Indian Oil Corporation, at a floor price of Rs 387 a share via an offer for sale (OFS) today. At the base price, the government will raise about Rs 9,300 crore from the share sale. Following the OFS, the government's stake in IOC would stand at 68.92 per cent.