State-owned oil and gas producers Oil India and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Monday said they have not received any communication on the windfall tax amid a rise in speculations that the government was considering it.

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The UK government on May 26 announced a 25 percent windfall tax on profits of oil and gas companies with crude surging over 50 percent in 2022 so far.

This was followed by speculations in India that a similar step could be taken in the country as the government looks at additional revenue mobilisation measures to offset loss due to recent excise duty cuts, higher fertiliser subsidies, etc.

“We have not received anything in this regard and we have not heard also,” said SC Mishra, CMD of Oil India, in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

"No communication from the govt on the windfall tax issue" said ONGC, in a press conference, adding that it doesn't think windfall tax would be levied.

Both Oil India and ONGC reported a strong set of numbers — though the latter missed estimates — for the March quarter on high oil and gas prices this year so far.

Oil India on Friday posted its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 1,630.01 crore for the January-March quarter. The company got $98.08 for every barrel of crude oil produced and sold during the fourth quarter of FY22, as compared to $59.80 a barrel in the same period last year.

For the full financial year as well, Oil India reported its highest-ever profit of Rs 3,887.31 crore and the company expects FY23 to be better than FY22.

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“We expect that 2022-2023 will be better than 2021-2022. As far as production is concerned, we have also taken some targets to increase the production by about 10 to 15 percent in the field of crude oil for next year... For natural gas, we have increased production by 15-16 percent and we are further looking for an increase of 12-15 percent next year,” Mishra told CNBC-TV18.

#4QWithCNBCTV18 | @OilIndiaLimited posted its highest ever net profit of Rs 3,887 Cr for FY22. SC Mishra of Oil India says he expects 2022-23 to be better than 2021-22. Tells @awnusharma that they aim to increase crude production by 10-15% for next year. pic.twitter.com/7Z0GDXGpek

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) May 30, 2022

ONGC on Saturday reported a 31.5 percent jump in its March quarter net profit to Rs 8,859.54 crore compared to Rs 6,733.97 crore in the same period last year. Revenue rose to Rs 34,497.24 crore in Q4 from Rs 21,188.91 crore a year ago. For full year, its net profit was Rs 40,305.74 crore, up from Rs 11,246.44 crore. The company says it plans to increase production by 20 percent by 2025.

Citi, however, maintained a 'sell' rating on ONGC saying that the production trends remained disappointing for the company and potential windfall tax remained an overhang.

The shares of Oil India were trading over a percent higher at Rs 220.70 per share while ONGC was trading lower by 1.36 percent at Rs 141.85 on the BSE on Monday.

Oil producers had come under pressure last week on the speculations of windfall tax in India. Oil India fell nearly 2 percent on Friday while ONGC and Vedanta declined 5 percent and nearly 2 percent, respectively.

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First Published:May 30, 2022 1:03 PM IST