Rajesh Kumar Srivastva, Director – Exploration, ONGC, on Wednesday, said that rising crude and gas prices are a positive for the company. According to him, crude oil prices are not expected to come down below $65-70/ barrel (bbl) for the next year. He, however, mentioned that crude prices are way above the break-even prices for the company.

Share Market Live

NSE

He said, “As far as the forecast in terms of oil prices is concerned, for this year as well as by 2022-23 as well, they are not going to come down below the level of USD 65-70/bbl level and that would be well above the cost of production for ONGC per se. This is a good sign and this generates revenue which is going to be plugged into aggressive exploration strategy.”

It is to be noted that crude oil prices had clambered to a 7-year high in the face of Russia-Ukraine tensions. Crude oil price, on Wednesday, however came off its high levels, in the face of Russia pulling back some of its troops but USD 92-93 per bbl is still holding strong.

Also Read: Commodities round-up: Crude oil price off 7-year high

On renewables, he said that the company is aiming to increase capacity to 10 giga watts (GW).

“Roughly 1 GW of solar would be around Rs 6,000 crore and in the offshore wind, it would be of the order of about Rs 9,000 crore per GW. In a bid to move towards that, we are going to do a pilot of the order of 200-300 megawatt in offshore wind. These studies are in progress and they are, almost, going to be finalised and the first pilot would be taken up in terms of that and we will continue our journey towards the realisation of those goals which we have planned as our 2040 target,” Srivastva said.

Sharing about the company’s exploration plans, he said that capex for this purpose will be around Rs 40,000-45,000 crore in the next 3-4 years. Giving details, he clarified that for FY23, the capex will be around Rs 10,000 crore. He added that ONGC has already acquired some acreages and the company will be opening up some new basins as well.

On production, he mentioned that in FY24, the company should be able to see production to the tune of 45,000 barrels per day at the KG basin. The basin is also expected to produce gas.

Also Read: ONGC shares give up day's gain despite oil price rise, strong earnings; what to do with the stock?

“We plan to reach a level of about 45,000 barrels per day kind of production level and in terms of gas, the number should be around 8-10 mmscmd,” said Srivastva.

For the entire interview, watch the accompanying video

Catch minute-by-minute updates on the stock market, and more, here:

(Edited by : Dipikka Ghosh)

First Published:Feb 16, 2022 11:48 AM IST