The Hindu Business Line : ONGC sees Rs 1,21,318-cr investment in 11th Plan

New Delhi June 25 ONGC Group would invest Rs 1,21,318 crore in the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12) compared with Rs 75,380 crore in the previous Plan period, the ONGC Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.S. Sharma, said.

ONGC, which was riding high on the success of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), its overseas investment company, said OVL would invest Rs 45,334 crore in five years to 2012, compared with Rs 25,052 crore in the Tenth Plan. Group company MRPL will invest Rs 8,316 crore compared with Rs 765 crore in the previous Plan.

OVL recorded a 48 per cent increase in sales turnover at Rs 11,554 crore (Rs 7,792 crore) and profit after tax at Rs 1,663 crore (Rs 901 crore) for the fiscal year 2007.

Exploration activities

Mr Sharma said the exploratory efforts of ONGC led to 22 discoveries, out of which nine were new prospects (three deepwater, one shallow water, and five onshore), and 13 were new pools. A total of 88 exploratory and 178 development wells were drilled in the fiscal.

ONGC, which recorded highest in-place reserves accretion in 11 years (in ONGC operated areas) of 169.52 million tonne of oil equivalent, is looking at in-place volumes of more than 100 mt from the nine discoveries and 13 new pools. Of the 100 mt, 65 mt is estimated to be the ultimate reserves.

Oil, gas production

ONGC's crude oil production went up by 9 per cent to 26.05 mt in 2006-07 (from 24.4 mt). Natural gas production was unchanged at 22.44 billion cubic metres. "ONGC is looking at a production of over 140 mt of crude oil during the Eleventh Plan and 112 billion cubic metres of natural gas,'' he said.

ONGC stock at the BSE closed at Rs 916.60 after touching the day's high at Rs 927.

`No plans for Rajasthan refinery'

ONGC on Monday said that as the economics of a small refinery did not look very viable, it has no plans to set up one in Rajasthan.

``The proposal for a three-four mt per year refinery was found to be worse in economic viability than the previous 7.5 mt. The Petroleum Ministry is now in agreement that a pipeline needs to be built to evacuate Cairn India's Rajasthan crude to refiners in Gujarat," Mr Sharma said here.

A decision on the pipeline would be taken on June 27. "It will be decided whether a pipeline will be laid by ONGC and Cairn or a special purpose vehicle or a third party,'' he said. The Ministry was also in agreement on including the cost of the 580-km pipeline from Barmer district to a port in Gujarat in the field's development plan.

This means that the operator can recover the cost from sale of crude oil. Cairn is to begin production from the Rajasthan fields in the first quarter of 2009 with a peak output of 1,50,000 barrels per day.

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