ONGC tumbles 6% to hit four-month low; stock down 27% from 52-week-high

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) hit a four-month low of Rs 142.35, down 6 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s trade after the company said it will invest Rs 31,000 crore over the next three years in exploring the Indian sedimentary basin for fuel reserves.

The stock of the state-owned oil and gas exploration was also under pressure after the UK imposed a 25 per cent energy windfall tax on oil and gas producers to help households as bills surge.

ONGC was trading at its lowest level since January 2022. With today’s fall, the stock has corrected 27 per cent from its 52-week high of Rs 194.6 touched on March 8, 2022. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled with a combined 27.4 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE.

“The company has drawn up a comprehensive roadmap to further intensify its exploration campaign, allocating a capital expenditure of about Rs 31,000 crore in the next three fiscal years during FY22-25. This is 150 per cent of its exploration expenditure of Rs 20,670 crore in the last three fiscals during FY19-22. ONGC also plans to leverage international collaborations with reputed global majors for this, for which talks are in an advanced stage,” it said in a press release.

This exploration intensification includes activities funded through ONGC’s internal program as well as funded and facilitated by the government, the company said.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)