ONGC shares slide 3% as massive fire breaks out at Surat plant

According to media reports, three consecutive blasts that took place at two terminals of the Hazira-based ONGC plant in Surat at around 3:30 am caused the fire

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) dipped 3 per cent to Rs 65.45 on the BSE on Thursday after a massive fire broke out at the state-owned exploration & production company‘s plant in Surat, Gujarat. No one has been injured in the accident so far, the company said.

“The reason for the massive fire is being attributed to three consecutive blasts that took place at two terminals of the Hazira-based ONGC plant in Surat at around 3:30 am. The sound could be heard at a distance of over 10 km,” ANI reported.

In the past month, the stock has underperformed the market by falling 19 per cent, as compared to 3 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Meanwhile, analysts at HDFC Securities expect crude oil production volumes to remain subdued at 21.4mmt in FY21 and recovery to 22.8mmt in FY22. Natural gas volumes should dip from 19.4bcm in FY20 to 18.9bcm in FY21 and recover to 20.2bcm in FY22.

Oil prices should remain muted at $36/41 vs. $59 in FY20, given weak global macros, despite production cut from OPEC and non-OPEC countries. Gas realisation should slide to $2.7/2.9 per mmbtu in FY21/22E ($3.9/mmbtu in FY20), the brokerage firm said in a note.

At 09:17 am, ONGC was trading 2 per cent lower at Rs 66.25, against 1.3 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 1.7 million equity shares were changing hands on the counter in the first few minutes of trade on the NSE and BSE.