India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation expects crude oil prices to remain range-bound between $60 and $65 per barrel “in the current scenario”, with company executives saying they were working to make operations profitable even at these price levels.
Said price levels do not seem to be too serious a problem for the Indian energy major. ONGC has no job cut plans, the executives said at a press conference, and it aims to work with BP to boost oil production to a target of 19 million tons, they also said.
Meanwhile, some Big Oil majors such as Exxon and Chevron have planned some pretty sizable layoffs, with Exxon planning to slash between 10% and 15% of its U.S. workforce and Chevron earlier this year announcing plans to cut 8,000 jobs in the Permian.
ONGC, the biggest energy producer in India, accounts for some 70% of the country’s crude oil and 84% of its natural gas. However, the company has witnessed a gradual decline in both oil and gas production due to natural depletion, which it wants to reverse in order to boost self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons.
Between 2020 and 2025, ONGC’s crude oil production declined from 22.533 million metric tons to 20.892 million metric tons, while natural gas production slid down to 20.19 billion cu m from 22.816 billion cu m. To reverse this trend, ONGC launched a production expansion program for both oil and gas, focusing on well optimization and bringing forward the start of commercial production at recent discoveries.
At this week’s press conference, ONGC executives said the company would rely on its own financial resources to expand production and curb costs, rather than approaching the government for support in the form of tax relief. It also has no plans for now to raise funds externally to help with its growth plans, the executives also said.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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