New Delhi: State-owned Oil PSU ONGC has received approval from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for an additional equity capital infusion of ₹10,501 crore into ONGC Petro Additions Ltd (OPaL). This move will change the status of OPaL into a subsidiary of ONGC, granting it a 95.69% equity stake in the company.
In an exchange filing, ONGC announced that it had received a letter dated 9 August 2024 from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, conveying the approval. The approved investment includes the conversion of back-stopped Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) amounting to ₹7,778 crore and the balance payment of ₹86 crore for share warrants, bringing the total to ₹18,365 crore. This approval also provides a roadmap for OPaL, further emphasising the company's strategic direction.
The government has also permitted the allocation of 50% of the annual gas production from new wells or well interventions in ONGC's nomination fields, or up to 3.2 MMSCMD of domestic natural gas, whichever is lower, to provide feedstock support to OPaL. This allocation will be priced up to 20% above the Administered Price Mechanism (APM) price. The APM price of natural gas per MMBTU is 10% of the Indian crude basket price per barrel of oil. /BI
