The share price of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company is being hammered by the market, presumably because of the not-so-good Q1 results. The company has also announced a maintenance shutdown, impacting production and sales.

On the NSE on Wednesday, after hitting an intra-day low of Rs 191.25, the share price of the Chennai-based oil exploration and production company closed at Rs 199, which was Rs 38.80 or 16.32 per cent, from the previous close.

Though revenues for the first quarter of the current financial year were higher at Rs 100.46 crore, compared with Rs 70.19 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year, net profit declined 20 per cent to Rs 21.34 crore against Rs 34.21 crore previously.

This was a negative surprise because the market was expecting a pick-up in profits, thanks to the B-80 offshore oil field starting to produce oil and gas. It was expected that once stabilized, B-80 would produce 4,000 barrels of oil and 15 million cubic feet of gas.

B-80 is indeed producing oil and gas, but the hit has come from the other field owned by the company, the Dirok gas field in Assam. “During the quarter ended June 30, 2023, offtake of gas from the Dirok Gas field of the company by the major customers had reduced due to the customer’s plant shutdown on account of maintenance,” the company said on Monday.

“Subsequent to the quarter ended June 30, 2023, the company made a planned shut down for the preventive maintenance of facility as well as replacement of floating hose and hawser in B80 field,” the company said in a stock exchange filing.

Businessline learns that the entire revenue and profit has come from B-80, and the contribution of Dirok was negligible because major consumers had shut down their plants for maintenance.

HOEC has informed the NSE that it will hold an analyst meeting on Friday at 11 a.m.

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