Economic viability will continue to be the deciding factor when it comes to buying oil from Russia, asserted CEO and chairman of state-owned explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Arun Kumar Singh.
Speaking to reporters after the annual general meeting of shareholders on Friday, Singh clarified that “Moscow was not under any sanctions”, and that the public sector company would continue purchasing oil from it unless the Centre asked it not to.
Other subsidiaries of ONGC – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited – are also buying Russian crude oil currently.
“As long as it is commercially and economically viable for our crude refineries, ONGC group of refineries will keep buying every drop which comes into the market, depending on refinery configuration,” Singh said.
Also Read: India’s imports of Russian crude oil hit 10-month high in May
Referring to the geopolitical headwinds that have engulfed the world, the ONGC chief stated simply that troubled times “do not last long”.
“If you look at the oil and gas history of the world, and foreign asset acquisitions, some companies became companies because they acquired assets in troubled times,” he said, and added, “If there is an asset that comes at a price which is acceptable to us with the future we see for ourselves, we will consider it, because these one-two years shall go away.”
In FY 2025, ONGC’s total oil and gas production stood at 51.3 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent, which included 39.25 MMToE from ONGC and 1.83 MMToE from joint ventures and 10.28 MMToE from its foreign exploration arm.
Singh also informed reporters that the ONGC’s consolidated trading platform for buying and selling from all ONGC group of companies was still at a conceptual stage. “ONGC group of companies possess volumes which make it a substantiative force,” he said.
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