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"Despite higher production during FY15, the decrease in profit is mainly due to lower oil prices, higher financing cost including exchange loss, higher depletion charge and impairment provision in one of the assets," the company said in a statement. Global crude oil prices tumbled by more than a half to $49 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2015.
OVL's crude oil production last fiscal increased by a marginal 0.8 per cent to 5.5 million tonne (MT) even as natural gas production jumped 16 per cent to 3.3 billion cubic meter (bcm). Overall, production of oil and oil equivalent gas was up 6.1 per cent to 8.8 million tonne of oil equivalent (MTOE).
"The incremental production is primarily due to better management and addition in the portfolio," the company said. ONGC Videsh has participating interest in 36 projects across 17 countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Iraq, Syria, Libya, South Sudan, Mozambique, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Of these 36 projects, 13 are producing, 4 are under development, 17 are exploratory and the remaining two are pipeline projects. ONGC Videsh is currently producing around 167 thousand barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and had total oil and gas reserves of around 612 MTOE at the end of March 2015.
