ONGC to invest Rs 13,000 crore in Assam in next five years

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Wednesday said it will invest over Rs 13,000 crore in Assam over the next five years.

The oil and gas company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Assam government for boosting its exploration and production activities in the state, according to a PTI report.

The company will make investment for drilling more than 220 oil and gas wells across the state, it said.

"ONGC is giving impetus to its activities in alignment with the prime minister's call for reducing import by 10 per cent by 2022 and Northeast Hydrocarbon Vision 2030," it added.

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ONGC, in a new vision document for 2040, has set a target to double oil and gas output from its domestic and overseas fields and expand its refining capacity threefold apart from diversification into renewables. India's top oil and gas producer plans to invest $15-16 billion to achieve this target.

As per the company's annual report, the ONGC Board recently approved the business roadmap for the company and its other group entities. Titled 'ONGC Energy Strategy 2040', the blueprint envisioned ONGC as "a diversified energy company with a strong contribution from non E&P business; 3x revenues and about 5-6x market capitalisation".

The firm produced 24.23 million tonnes of crude oil in the 2018-19 fiscal year and 25.81 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from its domestic fields. Another 10.1 million tonnes of oil and 4.736 bcm of gas were produced from its overseas assets.

Meanwhile, shares of ONGC closed trade at Rs 125.70 apiece, down 2.92 per cent, on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar with PTI inputs

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