ONGC Q2 Net Profit Slips 18% to ₹9,848 Crore on Lower Crude Prices
New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reported an 18% decline in its net profit for the second quarter of FY26, primarily due to lower crude oil prices.
The company posted a net profit of ₹9,848 crore for the July–September quarter, compared to ₹11,984 crore in the same period last year, ONGC said in a statement on Monday.
The fall in earnings for India’s largest oil explorer was driven mainly by a drop in crude prices, which averaged USD 67.34 per barrel in Q2 FY26 versus USD 78.33 per barrel in Q2 FY25. ONGC sells the crude oil it extracts from onshore and offshore fields to domestic refineries for conversion into petrol, diesel, and other fuels.
Natural gas prices from legacy fields rose 3.8% to USD 6.75 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), while prices from new wells — which attract a premium — declined to USD 8.36 per mmBtu from USD 9.42 per mmBtu a year earlier.
“Gas from new wells is eligible for a 20% premium over the domestic APM gas price. ONGC is focused on increasing production from these wells,” the company said. Revenue from new-well gas in the first half of FY26 rose to ₹3,352 crore, contributing an additional ₹651 crore compared to the APM price.
ONGC’s crude oil production during Q2 FY26 rose slightly to 4.63 million tonnes, compared to 4.576 million tonnes in the same period last year, while natural gas output remained nearly flat at 4.918 billion cubic metres (bcm).
In the April–September half-year, crude oil output increased to 9.314 million tonnes (from 9.204 million tonnes last year), whereas gas output was marginally lower at 9.763 bcm.
For the first half of FY26, ONGC’s net profit declined 14.6%, as oil prices fell 17.3% to USD 66.74 per barrel. The company’s gross revenue dropped 2.5% year-on-year to ₹33,031 crore in Q2 and 6% to ₹65,033 crore in H1.
The board approved an interim dividend of 120%, translating to ₹6 per equity share of ₹5, with a total payout of ₹7,548 crore.
“With sustained efforts to boost domestic production, ONGC has achieved an upward trend in crude oil output,” the company said, noting a 1.2% growth in standalone crude production during Q2 and H1 of FY26 over the same periods last year.
On the gas front, ONGC said it has “arrested the degrowth,” reducing the decline from 0.35% in Q1 FY26 to just 0.04% in Q2 FY26.
The firm also announced two new hydrocarbon discoveries in the western offshore during the first half of FY26.
As part of the government’s National Deepwater Exploration Mission – ‘Samudra Manthan’, ONGC said it is aligning its deepwater exploration strategy accordingly. “The company’s ultra-deepwater drilling campaign is progressing at full pace in the Andaman Offshore region, with seismic data acquisition underway across deepwater areas of both the east and west coasts,” it added.
