AGENCY
new delhi, MAY 22
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reported a 35% drop in its March quarter net profit as it realised lower oil prices on almost static output, the company officially announced here on Thursday.
The company’s net profit stood at Rs 6,448 crore in the January-March period in the fourth quarter of FY25 (April 2024 to March 2025) as compared to Rs 9,869 crore in the same period last year, according to a company statement.
The firm got 73.72 dollars per barrel of crude oil that it produced and sold to refiners for processing into petrol and diesel in the fourth quarter, down from 80.81 dollars per barrel a year back.
ONGC produced 4.7 million tonnes of crude oil in the quarter, marginally lower than 4.714 million tonnes in January-March 2024.
Production of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and turned into CNG as well as used for cooking in kitchens, was lower at 4.893 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) in Q4 as opposed to 4.951 BCM.
For the full fiscal (FY25), ONGC’s net profit was down by 12% at Rs 35,610 crore on almost unchanged revenue of Rs 1.37 lakh crore.
Oil price realisation was down 4.8% at an average of 76.90 dollars per barrel in the full financial year.
Gas price in Q4 and the full fiscal year was unchanged at 6.5 dollars per million British thermal units.
“The standalone crude oil production during FY25 was 18.558 million tonnes with an increase of 0.9% over FY24. The standalone natural gas production was 19.654 BCM in FY25 as against 19.978 BCM in FY24,” the ONGC statement mentioned.
The ONGC statement informed that it drilled 578 wells, the highest recorded in the past 35 years, comprising 109 exploratory and 469 development wells. The firm had drilled 544 wells in the previous 2023-24 fiscal year.
The company has been drilling more wells as the government has guaranteed a 10% higher price for any gas produced from new wells.
“ONGC invested around Rs 62,000 crore capex in FY25, including Rs 18,365 crore in OPaL, Rs 4,600 crore in ONGC Green Ltd for acquisition of PTC Energy and Ayana Renewables,” the ONGC statement said, adding apex in the previous 2023-24 was Rs 37,494 crore.
Its overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), oil production saw a marginal increase of 1.2% to 7.265 million tonnes in FY25 from 7.178 million tonnes a year ago. “This positive performance was driven by strong contributions from the key operated or jointly operated assets in Colombia and in South Sudan, despite geopolitical headwinds, natural decline, and local issues,” the company statement said. Gas production output moderated to 3.013 BCM in FY25 from 3.340 BCM in FY24, primarily due to the end of production life in Block 06.1, Vietnam.
OVL’s turnover was down at Rs 12,995 crore during FY25 from Rs13,197 crore in the previous year, mainly due to lower realised crude oil price (USD 70.23 per barrel as against USD 71.47 a barrel in FY’25). Net profit was also down at Rs 418 crore in FY25, as against Rs 490 crore (restated) in FY24.
ONGC said it made a total of 9 discoveries (5 in onland and 4 in offshore) during FY 2024-25 in its operated acreages. “Eight hydrocarbon discoveries have been monetised during the FY 2024-25, including the two discoveries notified during the fiscal year of 2024-25,” the company statement mentioned.
