ONGC Ltd on Wednesday reported a 20 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2014-15 on the back of higher realisation from sale of crude oil.
The company’s net profit for the quarter stood at ₹4,781.79 crore against ₹4,015.98 crore in the same quarter last year.
During the quarter, the company’s net sales grew 13 per cent to ₹21,851.27 crore against ₹19,308.93 crore in the same quarter last year.
In a filing to the BSE, ONGC said that due to the discounts given to the public sector oil marketing companies, net sales during the quarter was lower by ₹12,820 crore, while net profit was lower by ₹7,396 crore.
Production of crude oil grew slowly at 0.83 per cent to 6.007 million tonnes, while natural gas production fell 2.34 per cent to 6.181 billion cubic metres. The net realisation for crude oil sales during the quarter was 25 per cent higher than the same quarter last year at ₹2,818 a barrel, and in dollar terms, it was $47.15 a barrel.
The company also announced five new discoveries during the quarter, four of which are in the western part of India and one in the Krishna-Godavari basin.
On Wednesday, ONGC’s shares closed 0.91 per cent lower on the BSE at ₹401.80.