(PTI)
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) logged a Rs 4,000 crore loss on natural gas output in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 as the government mandated price for the fuel was less than the cost of production. “We need at least USD 4 per million British thermal unit to break-even as compared to current gas price of USD 3.06 per mmBtu,” a senior company official said. As per a new mechanism approved by the government in October 2014, the price of domestically produced natural gas is to be revised every six months — April 1 and October 1 — using weighted average of rates prevalent in gas surplus markets like Henry Hub (US), National Balancing Point (UK excluding Russia), Alberta (Canada) and Russia.
Using this formula, the price for April to September came to USD 3.06 per mmBtu as compared to USD 2.89 in previous six months. “Our average cost of production is about USD 5.14 per mmBtu. It comes to about USD 3.59 per mmBtu without taking into account return on capital,” the official said. “Gas production is now a loss-making business as irrespective of cost of production we have to continue paying royalty and other taxes.” Prices have been less than USD 4 since October 2015. “Natural gas is no more a profitable business because cost of production is very significantly higher than current gas prices,” the official said. ONGC, he said, has sought a review of the natural gas pricing formula.
