State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) saw a massive jump in its net profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal after the spike in oil prices compensated for a fall in production.

Net profit in the April-June period came in at Rs 4,335 crore compared with Rs 497 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal when demand as well as price had plummeted because of coronavirus-related lockdown, the company said in a statement.

The firm got $65.59 for every barrel of crude oil it produced and sold in the first quarter of the current fiscal compared with $28.87 per barrel realisation in April-June 2020.

Gas price was lower by a quarter at $1.79 per million British thermal unit.

The company produced nearly 5 per cent less crude oil at 5.4 million tonnes during the quarter while natural gas output was 4.3 per cent lower at 5.3 billion cubic metres.

Of the total oil output, ONGC produced 4.6 million tonnes from fields it operates and another 0.55 million tonnes from those in joint ventures with other partners. Its own production was down 4.2 per cent, while joint venture output fell 2.8 per cent.

ONGC’s own gas production was down 5.3 per cent at 5.1 billion cubic metres while that of joint venture fields was up by a third to 0.2 billion cubic metres. Overall, the gas output was down 4.3 per cent at 5.3 billion cubic metres.

Gross revenue rose 77 per cent to Rs 23,022 crore.

Petronet net up 22%

Petronet LNG, India’s biggest gas importer, on Saturday reported a 22 per cent rise in its June quarter net profit as it handled more gas volumes compared with the year ago period when a nationwide lockdown had muted economic activity and shrunk fuel demand.

Net profit in April-June stood at Rs 636 crore compared with Rs 520 crore earned a year back, Petronet CEO A.K. Singh said at a media call.

The profit was, however, lower than the Rs 643-crore profit earned in the January-March quarter because of the impact of the second wave of coronavirus, he said.

Petronet, which operates two liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals at Dahej in Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala, saw import volumes picking up in the first quarter of the current fiscal over the year-ago period but it was lower than the preceding quarter.

“During the quarter ended June 2021 (current quarter), the Dahej terminal processed 194 trillion British thermal units of LNG against 181 TBTU processed during the corresponding quarter ended June 2020 and 204 TBTU processed during the previous quarter ended March 31, 2021,” he said.

Singh said some buyers deferred LNG cargoes because of high prices. Spot or current market LNG prices, which were $3-4 per million British thermal unit in April-June 2020, rose to $15-16 in the first quarter of the current fiscal.