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Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), BHP-Billiton-GVK Power combine and Reliance Industries-BP Plc joint venture were among the firms that signed contracts on Monday for exploring for oil and gas in 44 oil and gas areas, committing $1.5 billion in investment. Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for the exploration blocks awarded under the seventh bid round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) were signed at a ceremony here. A total of 57 blocks were offered in the auction but bids were received only for 45, with about $1.49 billion minimum investment committed towards exploration spend. Cairn Energy's bid for a Mumbai basin deepwater block was, however, rejected. ONGC and partners signed PSCs for the maximum number of 20 oil and gas exploration blocks they won in India's largest ever international bid round that closed on June 30. First-timers BHP Billiton and GVK Power inked agreements for seven deepsea blocks. Reliance Industries forged an alliance with British Petroleum Pl...

ONGC has managed to register a 44 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 6,636 crore during the first quarter of financial year 2009 (Rs 4,611 crore). Turnover rose 47 per cent to Rs 20,123 crore (Rs 13,728 crore). This increase was mainly due to high price realisation on crude oil and cost management, Mr R.S. Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, said. The subsidy burden has increased to Rs 9,811 crore (Rs 3,649 crore) in the quarter under review. “This is the highest ever so far,” Mr Sharma said. ONGC has to shoulder the subsidy burden to partially offset the under-recoveries suffered by the public sector oil marketing companies due to selling petroleum products below the cost price. He said that “we would rather prefer a windfall profit tax than ad-hoc subsidy sharing mechanism to maintain company’s robust performance in the quarters to come.” However, the high crude oil prices have helped the company register a better performance. The gross realisation on crude oil was $12...

Satyam Q3 net up 28.58% at Rs 433.63 crore (The Hindu Business Line 21th Jan 2008) IT major Satyam Computer Services Ltd on Monday posted an increase of 28.58 per cent in its net profit at Rs 433.63 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, against Rs 337.23 in the corresponding quarter of 2006. Total income of the group rose 35.58 per cent at Rs 2266.05 crore for the quarter under review, compared to Rs 1671.29 crore in the same period last year, Satyam said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The standalone profit of the firm increased 28.45 per cent at Rs 441 crore for Q3 FY-08, against Rs 343.30 crore in the same quarter previous year. Glenmark consolidated Q3 net soars 48% at Rs 280 crore (The Hindu Business Line 21th Jan 2008)Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Monday reported a 48.17 per cent jump in consolidated profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 at Rs 280.02 crore compared to Rs 188.98 crore for the same period last year. Consolidated revenue rose by...

ONGC strikes gas in Mahanadi for third time (The Hindu Business Line 15th Jan 2008)ONGC ended its deepwater drilling campaign in 2007 in a hopeful mood. The Indian energy major has struck gas for the second time in MN-DWN-98/3 deepwater block in Mahanadi basin in the coasts of Orissa. ONGC holds 100 per cent interest in the block. Though the ‘discovery’ is not considered a major one, the company is hopeful that the streak of finds may lead to a significant discovery in the block sooner or later. This is the third time ONGC struck gas in Mahanadi offshore since December 2006. In December 2006, the company struck gas for the first time in the basin in MN-OSN-2000/2. According to sources, the recent drilling in the block encountered a “thin sand of 1.5 to 2 metres” at the deeper end of the well at a depth of 3,750 metres from the seabed. More

Reliance, ONGC in talks for sharing of rigs (The Hindu Business Line 7th Jan 2008)Traditional competitors Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are now working towards co-optition (where competitors work with each other) by sharing infrastructure and facilitating smooth operations in each other’s exploration and production (E&P) activities. Indications are that RIL may offer rigs to ONGC in two or three locations in 2008-09. These rigs are mainly for undertaking exploration activities. The shortage of rigs for E&P activities has forced the two major players in India to come to the table for sharing rigs. More

Tremendous value to be unlocked in oil & gas biz (The Hindu Business Line 1st Jan 2008)The state-owned upstream giant ONGC has worked out an aggressive strategy for 2008. With a market capitalisation of about Rs 2,65,000 crore, it is set for an image makeover, enhance its core activity, and strike more strategic alliances to unlock further value. ONGC’s proven reserves today stand at about seven billion barrels of oil equivalent. More

ONGC-Mittal JV bags block in Trinidad (Business Standard 26th Dec 2007) Steel baron Lakshmi N Mittal’s joint venture with ONGC Videsh (OVL) has won an exploration block with estimated gas reserves of two trillion cubic feet (tcf) in Trinidad and Tobago. ONGC-Mittal Energy beat UK’s Centrica to bag the offshore block, a company official said. More

Suzlon to supply wind turbines to ONGC (Live mint.com 24th Dec 2007) World’s fifth largest wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy said it has secured an order from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to supply wind turbines with a total capacity of 51 MW on 24 December. The order, to be supplied in 34 units of the company’s 1.5 MW turbines, would be installed as part of a project at Kutch in Gujarat, the company informed the BSE.

ONGC bullish on increasing production from offshore (Business Standard 24th Dec 2007) Where does offshore stand in ONGC's plans today? We basically have three assets: Bombay High, Neelam Heera and Bassein satellite. Bombay High produces 12.5 million tonnes of oil per day, whereas Neelam Heera produces around 3.6 million tonnes. Bhasin satellite produces 0.5 million tonnes of oil but produces major gas -- around 29 million cubic metres. Every five years, to increase recovery factor in production, we invest around Rs 11,000 crore to increase recovery. Bombay High South has been given Rs 6,000 crore. Bombay High North will be coming in the next two months for Rs 4,200 crore. In total, it will be Rs 10,200 crore of investments in Mumbai alone. What is the update on platform revamp?

ONGC seeks rig from global oil firms for KG block work (The Ecoomic Times 14th Dec 2007) India’s biggest oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is believed to have approached global oil firms seeking an ultra deepwater rig for drilling well UD-1 in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin block KG-DWN/98-2. The global major is believed to have even offered a stake in the block, where it claims to have discovered huge natural gas reserves, in return for the rig, people close to development told ET. ONGC is in talks with global oil firms StatOil, Norway’s Norsk Hydro among others to secure an ultra deepwater rig for drilling in well UD-1. It has so far been unable to secure an ultra deepwater rig in the international market even after willing to pay higher prices. The logic is simple: ONGC needs to drill more in that well to establish its claims of gas discovery. Govt offers 57 oil, gas blocks in seventh round (The Hindu Business Line 14th Dec 2007) The seventh auction round of o...

Essar Oil edges out RIL, BPCL in race for Kenyan refinery (The Economic Times 11th Dec 2007) Essar Oil (EOL) is believed to be very close to sealing a deal to acquire a majority stake in Kenya Petroleum Refinery (KPRL), one of Kenya’s oldest refinery complexes with a capacity of four million tonnes. India’s largest oil company by market capitalisation, Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were also in the race to acquire the 50% stake held by Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum (BP), it is learnt. The remaining 50% is held by the Kenyan government. Mittal group may take part in oil, gas blocks’ bid (The Hindu Business Line 11th Dec 2007) New Delhi, Dec. 10 The seventh round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) will offer 57 oil and gas blocks. Speaking to newspersons here on Monday, the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, said, “we will announce NELP-VII on ... More ONGC Videsh`s Iran dream gets rude jolt from Chin...

Govt mulls combination of fuel price hike, duty cut (The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007) The Government is mulling a combination of fuel price increase and duty cuts to oust the impact of rising crude prices, Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said on Monday. ONGC cuts gas supply after pipeline leak ( The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007)State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said it had cut gas supplies by about 0.5 million cubic metres per day following a leak in a pipeline off the west coast of India. Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry ( The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007) Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) seems to have run out of luck in its deepwater Cauvery asset. The company has been able to strike hydrocarbon in only one of the three wells drilled in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5). In October, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well. GAIL enters into transmission deal with Reliance Gas (The Economic Times 10th Dec 2007)GAIL India ...