Page 4 - AsianOil Week 35

AsianOil SOUTH ASIA AsianOil

ONGC cautious over acquisitions outlook

FINANCE & INDIA’S state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. slid 35.2% y/y to $2.39 per mmBtu ($66.11 per
INVESTMENT (ONGC) has said it is wary about investing 1,000 cubic metres).
overseas while international oil prices continue Kumar said the company was comfortable
to trade at around $45 per barrel. with oil prices above $45, while noting that $40
Company CFO Subhash Kumar told ana- was its breakeven point.
lysts this week that the overseas investment arm The company produced 5.66mn tonnes
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) would only be open to (455,900 barrels per day) of crude and conden-
an acquisition if the asset was offered at a com- sate in the period, down 3.5% y/y. While crude
petitive rate. production was roughly flat at its wholly own
“[P]rices are stuck at $45, so any acquisition assets, output from its joint ventures sank 19.6%
should be made at significantly lower prices y/y to 574,000 tonnes (46,200 bpd). Condensate
only,” Kumar told analysts during a results call output also dropped 19.6% to 292,000 tonnes
for the first quarter of financial year 2020-2021. (23,500 bpd).
The developer’s cautious investment position Gas production, meanwhile, shrank 13.6%
comes as it reported a more than 90% collapse in y/y to 5.54bn cubic metres, with the company
profits for the April-June period as well as a 73% blaming lower offtake by consumers in the wake
year-on-year collapse in OVL’s 2019-2020 profit of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
to INR4.54bn ($61.8mn). The company has cut in its capital expendi-
ONGC said on September 1 that its first-quar- ture budget for the fiscal year ahead to INR260bn
ter profit had tumbled 91.7% to INR4.96bn ($3.54bn) in the wake of government-mandated
($67.5mn) from INR59.8bn ($814.2mn) a year lockdowns. Kumar warned that crude and con-
earlier. Revenue, meanwhile, shrank by 51% y/y densate production was likely to fall by 3% y/y
to INR130.1bn ($1.77bn). The company’s real- in 2020-2021 to 22.69mn tonnes (454,000 bpd),
ised oil price during the quarter tumbled 56.7% while gas output was expected to be roughly flat
y/y to $28.72 per barrel, while realised gas prices at 24.89 bcm.™

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Malaysia’s DNeX to consolidate

control over Ping Petroleum

PROJECTS & MALAYSIAN energy and IT services provider
COMPANIES Dagang NeXchange (DNeX) has dropped plans
to shed its 30% stake in North Sea-focused Ping
Petroleum, instead opting to buy the rest of the
company.
In a filing on August 26, DNeX said it had
signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with Ping,
offering to buy out the owners by acquiring their to pay to gain sole control over Ping. But it did
remaining 70%. The offer will remain on the say it intended to fund the deal using cash and
table until the end of October. new shares. The HoA is not binding, and DNeX
DNeX had said in July it wanted to divest will have to sign a sales deal with shareholders to
its 30% interest in Ping, which it acquired in acquire the company.
2015 for $10mn. Ping is partnered with fellow “The proposal will enable DNeX to benefit
Malaysian firm Hibiscus Petroleum at the Anas- from Ping’s future earnings, in view of Ping’s
uria field cluster in the central North Sea off the potential to grow organically with its well-bal-
UK. The fields – Teal, Teal South, Guillemot and anced portfolio of production, development
Cook – deliver oil to the Anasuria floating pro- and exploration assets,” DNeX said. It estimated
duction offloading and storage (FPSO) vessel. Ping’s proven and probable reserves at 24.8mn
Ping is also involved in the central North Sea’s barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Avalon field, expected to be tied back to an exist- The move by DNeX comes after the company
ing platform. It has additional exploration and reported sustaining MYR24mn ($5.8mn) in
production operations in Malaysia. losses in the second quarter. Its revenues for the
DNeX did not say how much it was prepared three months were down 14% at MYR62mn.™

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 03•September•2020