Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd reported a 13.6 per cent drop in its net profit on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in its third quarter (Q3) earnings on Saturday. The oil and gas exploration firm logged a net profit of Rs 9,535.67 crore for the December quarter in the current financial year (FY24) against a net profit of Rs 11,044.73 crore in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year (FY23).
The public sector firm recorded an almost 10 per cent decline in its revenue for Q3FY24 on a year-to-year basis, it revealed via an exchange filing. It posted a revenue of Rs 34,788.07 crore for the quarter under review against its Q3 revenue of Rs 38,583.29 crore for FY23.
The firm also announced a second interim dividend of 80 per cent, coming up at Rs 4 per equity share of Rs 5. The overall payout for the dividend stands at Rs 5,032 crore, it noted. The government-owned company also set the date of February 17, 2024, for disbursement of the dividend. The dividend follows the first interim dividend of Rs 5.75 per share announced earlier in November, 2023.
The company attributed the fall in profit to the reduction in the production output in the April-December period in the current fiscal year. The total crude oil produced during Q3FY24 stood at 5.219 MMT (million metric tonne), against 5.396 MMT produced during the corresponding quarter in the preceding fiscal year, down by over 3 per cent. The total crude oil output during the first nine months of the 2023-24 fiscal year stood at 15.780 MMT, down by almost 3 per cent from 16.251 MMT produced during the same period in FY23.
Explaining the reasons for this decrease in output, it noted that the Panna-Mukta offshore platforms were shut down for the commissioning of new crude oil pipeline, Cyclone Biparjoy, during June 2023, impacted offshore and onshore production, and a natural decline from mature fields was the major factors responsible.
However, it said that to manage the fall in output, “ONGC is taking proactive steps by implementing well interventions and advancing new well drilling activities. The decline in production from matured fields will be compensated in upcoming quarters with commencement of additional production from upcoming projects, which are under various stages of development.”
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