ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker on Wednesday said the company was looking to complete the acquisition of HPCL by the end of financial year 2017-18.
The company announced 3.1% rise in the second quarter profit to ₹5,131 crore compared with a year earlier. Profit for the first half of the financial year stood at ₹9,015 crore, falling 2.1% year on year.
‘Increase in production’
ONGC saw its natural gas production increasing strongly over the year so far, with Q2 growth at 7.7% to 6.26 bcm and growth in the first half of the year at 8.4% to 12.25 bcm.
Crude oil production grew at a slower rate, by 0.9% in Q2 to 6.45 MMT and 1.2% in the first half of the year, to 12.89 MMT.
“The Finance Minister talked about a merger (with HPCL), and the Cabinet approved it in July,” Mr. Shanker said. “The ONGC board gave its in-principle approval in August. ONGC, DIPAM, and the Petroleum Ministry have all appointed their own advisers on the deal. We will try to get our own valuation of the deal done, and complete it by the end of FY18.”
The ONGC chief also said that the company was exploring all funding options for the HPCL acquisition deal. “We have not yet decided [on] the source of funding. But all options are open. We have taken the board’s approval for borrowing ₹25,000 crore and we also have significant equity in IOC and GAIL.”