ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, today reported an over 44 per cent jump in net profit for 2012-13 fiscal on the back of higher gas production.
Net profit in 2012-13 at Rs 3,929 crore was 44.4 per cent higher than Rs 2,721 crore in the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement.
OVL is the unlisted overseas investment arm of the State explorer and only gives yearly earnings numbers.
Revenue dropped 20.4 per cent to Rs 18,029 crore as oil production at its properties in Syria and South Sudan was impacted due to the geo-political situation.
Its net worth soared 46.4 per cent to Rs 29,184 crore from Rs 19,941 crore “due to the increase in equity share capital from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore to the parent company ONGC during 2012-13,” the statement said.
The company, spearheaded by Chief Executive Dinesh K. Sarraf, produced 4.34 million tonnes of crude oil in 2012-13, down 30.2 per cent from 6.22 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.
Natural gas output, however, rose 15.3 per cent to 2.92 billion cubic metres.
“Oil production during the year was lower due mainly to the adverse geo-political situation in Syria and South Sudan,” it said alluding to a shutdown of operations in the two countries due to local trouble.
Production from Block 5A in South Sudan, which was producing 16,000 barrels each day before the shutdown of operations in January last year due to a split in the African nation, resumed on April 6. Block 1, 2 and 4, which was producing about 60,000 bpd before the stoppage, resumed production on April 13.
The company, which holds 24.125 per cent participating interest in Block 5A and 25 per cent stake in Block 1, 2 and 4, did not give timelines for reaching pre-closure output levels.
OVL currently has 32 projects in 16 countries, of which 11 are producing, five are under development and 14 others are in the exploratory phase.
The company said it recently completed acquisition of US energy major Hess Corporation’s 2.7213 per cent stake in the Azeri, Chirag and the Deep Water Portion of the Guneshli Fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and 2.36 per cent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline.
“The acquisition would bring about 9 per cent additional proven reserves to OVL’s portfolio and daily oil production of about 19,000 barrels or about 0.9 million tonnes per annum,” the statement said.