(IE)
The depleting cash and other bank balances of ONGC Ltd, India’s main state-owned oil explorer that accounts for over 60 per cent of the country’s crude oil production, finds a reflection in the overall capex spends of the upstream petroleum major.
ONGC’s cash and balances dipped to touch a record low of Rs 504 crore in March 2019, down from Rs 1,013 crore in March 2018 and Rs 9,511 crore in March 2017 and Rs 9,957 in March 2016. While this slide in balances is precipitated by two deals involving ONGC’s stake buys in downstream oil marketing company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Gujarat-based GSPC that dented the former’s cash reserves, the government has maintained that ONGC has “sufficient lines of credit from banks and strong access to capital markets” to maintain its working capital requirements.
