State-run upstream major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Friday signalled early movement on its long-stalled Venezuela investments while mapping out a fresh domestic growth pipeline anchored in gas projects and downstream expansion.
Addressing analysts after the December-quarter earnings announcement, ONGC Director (Finance) Vivek Tongaonkar said regulatory easing around Venezuela could finally unlock cash flows that have remained frozen for years under US sanctions.
“On Venezuela, we understand that the US government is progressively lifting sanctions or is in the progress of liberalising the trade from Venezuela and maybe allow other countries also, companies also, to start operations over there.
We are awaiting on those instructions as such, but the movement is in the positive direction, and we are hopeful that we should be in a position to restart our operations once the on ground and US sanctions get lifted totally,” Tongaonkar said, adding that around $550 million of dividends remain due from the company’s Venezuelan assets.
ONGC holds interests in two producing oil fields in Venezuela through its overseas arm ONGC Videsh, but dividend inflows have remained blocked since the imposition of international sanctions, leaving the assets underutilised despite production potential. Government-level discussions have also been under way to unlock roughly $580–600 million in stuck dividends from these projects.
Unlocking Frozen Assets
In parallel, ONGC has initiated early-stage discussions on a greenfield refining and petrochemical project in Prayagraj as part of its strategy to deepen its presence across the energy value chain. The company is evaluating the project in partnership with Bharat Petroleum Corporation and the Uttar Pradesh government, with land availability and techno-economic feasibility currently under assessment.
Beyond overseas recovery hopes and downstream ambitions, ONGC is preparing for a significant domestic gas-led growth phase from FY27, driven by a series of offshore developments nearing commissioning.
Domestic Expansion
Gas output from the deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 block is expected to commence from the April–June quarter, ramping up to 5–6 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) by the end of FY27, with peak production guided at 7–8 mmscmd.
Simultaneously, the Daman Upside Development Project in the western offshore is slated to start flowing gas from March, with management guiding for 4–5 mmscmd of incremental volumes next year.
“These projects are in the final stages of completion, with subsea systems and processing platforms already installed. Commissioning is now under way,” Tongaonkar said.
ONGC also reported early production gains from the Mumbai High rejuvenation programme being executed with technical support from BP, which has helped arrest the natural decline of the ageing offshore field.
“The decline has effectively turned positive, with output around 7% higher than internal estimates in the December quarter,” management said, noting that full-year quantification will be shared later.
For FY27, ONGC is targeting total oil and gas output of 42.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent, evenly split between crude oil and natural gas—excluding any upside from the Mumbai High intervention.
On the financial front, consolidated net profit rose 23% year-on-year to ₹11,946 crore in the December quarter, aided by stronger contributions from subsidiaries HPCL and MRPL. Standalone profit increased modestly to ₹8,372 crore, supported by higher gas revenues despite weaker crude price realisations.