ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), today reported a 14.4 per cent increase in net profit during the first half of the financial year on higher crude oil and gas output.
Net profit during the April-September period rose to Rs 1,886 crore from Rs 1,649 crore, the company said in a statement here. OVL is unlisted and does not release quarterly earnings.
Crude oil production rose 19 per cent to 2.707 million tonnes, while gas output was up 16.34 per cent at 1.41 billion cubic meters in H1.
The company’s revenues climbed 22.5 per cent to Rs 10,060 crore.
OVL has 32 projects in 16 countries, of which 12 are in production, while hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in four. Of the remaining, 14 are in exploration stage and two are pipeline projects.
The company said production from assets in Syria continued to be affected due to the geo-political situation, including EU sanctions against that country.
Natural gas production from the A3 offshore block in Myanmar started in July and the field currently produces 4.6 million standard cubic meters of gas a day.
“Production is expected to reach 5.67 mmscmd in December 2013 and will reach the peak level of 14.50 mmscmd in Q1 of 2015,” the statement said. OVL has a 17 per cent share in the fields.
The company is targeting 20 mt of oil and oil equivalent gas production from its overseas projects by 2018 and 60 mt of oil and oil equivalent gas by 2030. It had produced 7.26 mt of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2012-13.
During the current financial year, OVL raised its stake in the producing BC-10 block in Brazil to 27 per cent from 15 per cent at a cost of $529 million.