ONGC expects crude oil production of 21 MMT, gas production of 21.5 BCM next fiscal year

ONGC expects standalone crude oil production to reach 21 million metric tonnes (MMT) and gas production to reach 21.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) in fiscal 2027, executive director (chief corporate planning) Ajay Kumar Singh told investors in a post-result conference call on Tuesday. He said the company is expected to produce 19.8 MMT crude oil along with 20 BCM gas in the current financial year.

Elaborating on the growth path, ONGC Finance Director Vivek Tangaonkar said the company has already started seeing a definite increase in oil and gas production from the Mumbai High (MH) field.

“We expect that within the course of this year we should get some positive stories from there,” he said, adding that the exploration company was expecting some “green shoots” since January it deployed British energy major BP as a technical service provider (TSP) earlier this year. Its objective was to stabilize the decline in production and restore growth.

Furthermore, Mr Tangaonkar said the Daman Upside project is “running ahead of schedule”.

“We expect it in the last quarter [fiscal] Next year, we should get some production from that area also,” he said.

On the east coast, the Director (Finance) said “deferred production” from the KG-98/2 basin would commence in the first quarter of the next financial year.

“We will set up the living quarters during December-January,” he said. He added, “A portion of the production that we otherwise were expecting for the entire portion of the last quarter will be postponed.”

ONGC Videsh, the company’s exploration arm for operations outside India, also said all partners have agreed to remove the ‘force majeure’ on the LNG project in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. The company executive told the conference that a vote to formally remove the force majeure event was expected to take place “today or tomorrow.”

Construction of the LNG project in the East African country, which began in 2019, had to be halted in April 2021 following terrorist attacks in the country’s northern region. ONGC Videsh Rovuma Ltd has a 10% stake in the project, which is operated by French energy major Total SE, which has a 26.5% participating stake. Bharat Petroresources, which also holds a 10% stake, also announced on Monday that the partners had agreed to remove the force majeure clause.