ONGC discontinues oil production in South Sudan - Business Standard

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	ONGC discontinues oil production in South Sudan BS Reporter / Mumbai/ Vadodara Apr 07, 2012, 00:04 IST
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Following geopolitical disputes in North and South Sudan, ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), the overseas investment arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) has discontinued crude oil production from the latter territory. 

"The dispute between North and South Sudan has been a bone of contention for us. Hence, production from South Sudan has been discontinued since last three months while that of North Sudan is also relatively less.  Till three months ago, we used to produce 50,000 barrels per annum from South Sudan," said Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD, ONGC at a press conference in Vadodara on Friday.

As against a target of nine million tonnes for the year 2011-12 for Sudan and Syria, OVL has seen a loss of 0.8 million tonnes in production. 

However, while it's Sudan and Syria production have taken a hit due to geopolitical reasons, back home ONGC has set a target of 27.5 million tonnes of oil production for 2012-13 as well as 25.7 billion cubic meter (bcm) for gas production. In 2011-12, the company achieved 99.7 per cent of its 27 million tonnes oil production targets.

On ONGC's bid through consortium for BG stake in Gujarat Gas Company Ltd. (GGCL), Vasudeva said, "We are everywhere in hydro carbon value chain and one thing left for us is city gas distribution (CGD). It is a national corollary to be everywhere and this (GGCL) bidding gave us that opportunity. About 200 cities will be put on the CGD network in near future. Hence, we will do CGD business of our status when we get in."

Talking further about the targets, Vasudeva said, "2016-17 is going to be a red letter year for ONGC when the 98/2 block will begin production post its appraisal. By then we are aiming at 100 million cubic meter per day of gas production. We have also entered into an MoU with ConocoPhilips for shale gas mapping in the country." 

Even as 5,000 employees set to retire by 2015, Vasudeva said the company is looking to recruit 1,000-1,500 new people every year.  "Once upon a time our average age was 49 years. It has now come down to 47.5 years. We look to bring it down further through this recruitment drive," he added.

Talking about the 80 per cent cess hike in union budget, Vasudeva said, "The cess hike will impact our profit before tax (PBT) by Rs 4,500 crore. With the additional hikes in service tax and excise duty, the total impact on our books will be the tune of Rs 5,000 crore."

Meanwhile, according to Vasudeva, as against the estimated 11th plan outlay of Rs 75,000 crore, ONGC saw an actual outlay of Rs 1,25,000 crore. "For the 12th plan, we have estimated an outlay of Rs 1,64,000 crore. However, the 12th plan we see 60 million tonnes more production than the 11th plan," he added.

The company has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 33,065 crore for the fiscal 2012-13.

OPaL’s Dahej unit to be ready by first quarter of FY 2014

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has set a deadline of first quarter of fiscal 2013-14 for commissioning ONGC Petro Additions Ltd (OPaL)'s Dahej plant.

Talking about the Dahej plant, Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD, ONGC said, "The first quarter of 2014 is when the C2-C3 plant of OPaL at Dahej will be ready. The plant will have a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes."

Spread over 500 hectares of land, the project is coming up near Ambheta village in the Dahej Industrial Area in Vagra taluka of Bharuch district. The proposed complex will consist of dual feed cracker of around 1100 kpta of hydrocarbon components (C2, C3, C4) and naphtha feedstock at a total capacity of 1.1 million tones.

The existing land around the project site is being developed as Dahej Special Economic Zone through the developer Dahej SEZ Ltd, a joint venture (JV) between ONGC and GIDC. The funding of the project is a debt-equity ratio of 70:30. Half of the equity component would be divided between ONGC, government-owned gas utility Gail India and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, with each holding 26 per cent, 19 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

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