FILE PHOTO: A technician is pictured inside a desalter plant of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo
| Photo Credit: AMIT DAVE

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest about ₹2 lakh crore in setting up renewable energy sites and green hydrogen plants and cutting gas flaring to zero to achieve its 2038 net-zero carbon emission goal.

The company, which produces about two-thirds of India’s crude oil and about 58% of natural gas, on July 9 released a 200-page document, detailing its path to achieving net zero emissions.

It listed clean energy projects even as it looks to boost its hydrocarbon output to meet the country’s energy needs.

ONGC will invest ₹97,000 crore by 2030 in setting up 5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, green hydrogen, biogas, pump storage plant and offshore wind project, according to the document.

Another ₹65,500 crore will be invested by 2035, mostly in a green hydrogen or green ammonia plant, and the remaining ₹38,000 crore by 2038, primarily in setting up 1 GW of offshore wind projects.

These projects will help the firm offset 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions it is directly (Scope-1 emissions) or indirectly (Scope-2 emissions) responsible for.

ONGC said it will invest ₹5,000 crore to cut gas flaring to zero by 2030 through technological intervention. The firm released into the atmosphere 554 million cubic metres of methane in 2021-22 (base year), mostly because it was an incidental by-product of oil or the quantity was not economical enough to pipe it to consumers.

ONGC will spend ₹30,000 crore in setting up 5 GW solar parks that will convert sunlight into electricity and turbines that will do the same with wind energy. It will add 1 GW of solar and onshore wind capacity by 2035 and 2038 at a cost of ₹5,000 crore each.

It will invest ₹40,000 crore by 2030 and a similar amount by 2035 to set up two 1,80,000 tonnes per annum green hydrogen and/or 1 million tonnes of green ammonia projects.

ONGC, which has installations in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal to produce oil and gas from below the seabed, is also looking at installing offshore wind turbines to generate 0.5 GW of electricity by 2030 and double it by 2035. The first 0.5 GW offshore wind project is likely to cost ₹12,500 crore and the next about Rs 12,000 crore.

By 2038, it will add another 1 GW of offshore wind energy capacity at an investment of ₹25,000 crore, the document said.

The company is also looking at investing ₹20,000 crore for setting up 3 GW of pump storage plants to meet electricity requirements when renewable sources like sunlight and wind energy are not available.

The remaining investment will be in biogas, carbon capture and other clean energy projects. All this while it continues to hunt and produce more oil and gas.

Crude oil, which companies like ONGC pump out from below the seabed and from underground reservoirs, is a primary source of energy. It is processed in oil refineries to produce petrol, diesel and jet fuel. With the world looking to transition away from fossil fuels, companies around the globe are looking at new avenues to use crude oil.

Gas produced in a similar fashion is used to generate electricity, produce fertiliser or convert into CNG to power automobiles or into PNG to fire kitchen stoves.

Scope 1 emissions are from directly emitting sources that are owned or controlled by a company. Scope 2 emissions are from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, or other sources of energy generated upstream from a company’s direct operations.

ONGC produced 21.14 million tonnes of oil in 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024) and 20.648 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas.

Image used for representative purpose only.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is seeking foreign partners to reverse declining output at its flagship Mumbai High fields, offering a share of revenue from incremental production plus a fixed fee but not any equity stake.

ONGC on June 1 floated an international tender seeking global technical services providers (TSP) with annual revenue of at least $75 billion, according to the tender document.

The TSP would have to do a comprehensive review of the field performance and identify improvements as well as implement suitable technological interventions and practices for improving production and recovery, it said.

Bidders have been asked to quote quarterly incremental production they can enable over the 10-year contract period as well as the percentage share of the revenue they want from the sale of oil and gas produced over and above the baseline production.

Bids are due by September 15, 2024.

The TSP, who would be selected on the basis of one offering the highest incremental production and the lowest revenue share, will also be paid a fixed service fee for its efforts, the document said.

The Mumbai High field (previously Bombay High field) — India’s most prolific oil field — lies some 160-kilometer in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast. It was discovered in February 1974 and started production on May 21, 1976.

The field hit a peak of 4,76,000 barrels of oil per day and 28 billion cubic meters of gas in 1989 and has since seen a gradual decline in output.

It is currently producing 1,34,000 bpd of oil and 13 bcm (less then 10 million standard cubic meters per day) of gas — accounting for almost 38% of India’s production and 14% of consumption.

ONGC believes the field still has a balance reserve of 80 million tonnes (610 million barrels) of oil and over 40 bcm of gas and hence needs partners who can help tap them.

With the field seeing a steady decline in output, a stake sale had been considered on at least two occasions in recent years.

A high-level committee headed by the then Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar in late 2018 considered “transferring” western offshore oil and gas fields of Mumbai High as also some fields in Mumbai offshore, Assam, Rajasthan, and Gujarat to private/foreign companies.

But that plan met with strong opposition from ONGC and some quarters within the government, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

While ONGC opposed giving away on a platter to private/foreign sector what it discovered after years of toil and spending billions of dollars over last four decades, some in government were not convinced by the incremental potential toyed with to get the proposal through, they said, adding that it wasn’t clear how the incremental output numbers were arrived at in the absence of any real basin or field study by the panel.

The oil ministry twice in 2021 told ONGC to give away 60% stake, plus operating control of Mumbai High and Bassein fields to foreign companies.

Bassein and Satellite (B&S), adjoining Mumbai High, are India’s biggest gas fields that were put to production in 1988.

The 2021 proposal, too, was resisted by ONGC but with the output continuing to decline it has now come up with the TSP model to get technical knowhow for boosting output.

ONGC produced a total of 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil in 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024) fiscal year, down from 18.54 million tonnes in the previous year. Gas output declined 3.2% to 19.974 bcm.

Stock exchanges have slapped fines on state-owned oil and gas firms including IOC, ONGC and GAIL for their failure to meet listing requirements
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Stock exchanges have slapped fines on state-owned oil and gas firms including IOC, ONGC and GAIL for their failure to meet listing requirements of having a requisite number of independent directors and women directors.

In separate filings, the companies detailed the fines imposed by the BSE and NSE but were quick to point out that appointment of directors was done by the government and they had no role in it.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was slapped a ₹3.36 lakh fine, while Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) was asked to pay ₹5.36 lakh fine.

Gas utility GAIL was slapped ₹2.71 lakh fine, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) ₹3.59 lakh, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) ₹3.6 lakh, Oil India Ltd ₹5.37 lakh and a fine of ₹5.37 lakh was imposed on Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL).

Except for IOC which was slapped with the fine for not having the required one woman director on the board, all the companies were fined for violating the norm of having the required number of independent directors.

IOC said the power to appoint directors (including independent and women directors) vests with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

“And hence the non-appointment of women independent directors on the Board during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 was not due to any negligence / fault by the company,” it said. “Accordingly, Indian Oil should not be held liable to pay the fines and the same should be waived-off”.

IOC said it regularly takes up the issue with the ministry, for appointment of requisite number of independent directors (including Woman independent director), to ensure compliance with corporate governance norms.

“We would also like to inform that the company had received similar notices from the BSE and NSE in the past imposing fines and waiver requests from the company was considered favourably by the exchanges,” it said.

HPCL made a similar filing and cited past record of stock exchanges waiving such fines.

ONGC said it has requested the government for nomination of the requisite number of independent directors on the board of the company.

“Since the appointment of directors is beyond control of the company, request letters have been submitted to stock exchanges for waiving off the fine levied,” ONGC said.

BPCL said it had complied with the requirements for the financial year 2022-23 and till April 30, 2023.

But the appointment of a full-time directors with effect from May 1, 2023 led to BPCL having five whole-time Directors, two nominee directors of the government and six independent directors.

As per norm, BPCL should have had seven independent directors – equal to the executive directors (five whole-time directors and two government nominee directors).

BPCL said it has “requested the Government of India from time to time for the nomination of one independent director. As the directors are appointed after receipt of nomination from Government of India. BPCL has no control over the appointment of Directors.”

The firm said it will be approaching BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited for waiver of the fines. “Similar letters were received earlier from the stock exchanges for which waiver request was made by BPCL and the same was considered favorably by the stock exchanges,” the filing said.

Oil India Ltd (OIL) said the non-compliance was beyond the control of the company as it is a government enterprise and directors are appointed by the administrative ministry, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

MRPL said it is following up with the government from time to time for appointing the required number of directors on its board.

GAIL said, “all the directors on the board of GAIL (including independent directors) are nominated/appointed by the Government of India. As such, appointments are outside the purview/control of the GAIL’s management.”

Mumbai:

Indian energy company ONGC Videsh has secured a three-year extension from Vietnam to explore ‘Block 128’ in the South China Sea, it said in a post on social messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Conflicting territorial claims over South China Sea stretch back many decades but have intensified in recent years as China and its rivals have reinforced their positions on the rocks and reefs they hold.

“India’s strategic commitment stays strong as ONGC Videsh continues its exploration journey with its 8th extension till 15 June 2026,” the company said in its post.

Expanding Horizons for #Energy Security#Navratna@ongcvideshltd secures extension of 3 more years to explore in South China Sea’s Block 128! #India‘s strategic commitment stays strong as #ONGC Videsh continues its exploration journey with its 8th extension till 15 June 2026.
We… pic.twitter.com/8fLQBzHRfG

— Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) (@ONGC_) August 19, 2023

ONGC Videsh is the overseas investment arm of India’s top oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

India has sparred diplomatically with China in the past over its gas and oil exploration block off the coast of Vietnam. China claims virtually the entire mineral-rich South China Sea and has stepped up its military presence there.

Part of block 128 is in the U-shaped “nine-dash line” which marks the vast area that China claims in the sea, a route for more than $5 trillion in trade each year in which the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have claims.

Representational image only.

The government has hiked the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country and on export of diesel, while bringing back the levy on overseas shipments of ATF.

The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty, on domestically produced crude oil has been raised to ₹7,100 per tonne from ₹4,250 per tonne, according to an official notification.

Besides, the special additional excise duty (SAED) on the export of diesel has been increased to ₹5.50 per litre from ₹1 per litre. A duty of ₹2 per litre will be imposed on the export of jet fuel or ATF with effect from August 15.

There was no SAED on jet fuel prior to this levy. SAED on petrol will continue to be zero. The new tax rates come into effect from Tuesday, the Order dated August 14, said.

India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1 last year, joining a growing number of nations that tax supernormal profits of energy companies. At that time, export duties of ₹6 per litre ($12 per barrel) each were levied on petrol and ATF and ₹13 a litre ($26 a barrel) on diesel.

A ₹23,250 per tonne ($40 per barrel) windfall profit tax on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was also levied. The tax rates are reviewed every fortnight based on average oil prices in the previous two weeks.

A windfall tax is levied on domestic crude oil if rates of the global benchmark rise above $75 per barrel. Export of diesel, ATF and petrol attract the levy if product cracks (or margins) rise above $20 per barrel.

Product cracks or margins are the difference between crude oil (raw material) and finished petroleum products. International crude oil prices averaged $86.8 per barrel in August, up from $80.37 in the previous month and $74.93 a barrel in June.

The levy on domestic crude oil dropped to nil in the first half of April as international crude oil prices fell but was back in the second half in step with a rise in rates. Levy on diesel became nil in April but the levy was brought back in August. Levy on ATF became nil in March and has now been brought back. The export tax on petrol was scrapped in the very first review.

Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuels such as petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

Reliance Industries Limited, which operates the world’s largest single-location oil refinery complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy are primary exporters of fuel in the country.